JSON Parsing Example in Android Studio

 

Simple JSON Parsing Example in Android Studio

In this tutorial, we’ll learn how to parse a local JSON file in Android Studio and display the parsed data in a ListView. We'll keep it super simple for beginners.

📁 Step 1: JSON File – res/raw/data.json

Create a raw folder inside res and place this file in it.

data.json

[
  { "name": "Vipul", "age": 25, "city": "Bhavangar" },
  { "name": "Vivaan", "age": 30, "city": "Ahmedabad" },
  { "name": "Jatasya", "age": 22, "city": "Gandhinagar" }
]

🧱 Step 2: Layout File – activity_main.xml

This layout contains a simple ListView to display our data.

activity_main.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical">

    <ListView
        android:id="@+id/listView"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent" />
</LinearLayout>

🧠 Step 3: Java Code – MainActivity.java

This is the main logic where we:

• Read the JSON from raw folder
• Parse it using JSONArray and JSONObject
• Show the data in a ListView

MainActivity.java

package com.tecvipul.jsonparsingexample;

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.widget.ArrayAdapter;
import android.widget.ListView;

import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;

import org.json.JSONArray;
import org.json.JSONException;
import org.json.JSONObject;

import java.io.InputStream;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Scanner;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

    ListView listView;
    ArrayList<String> listData;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        listView = findViewById(R.id.listView);
        listData = new ArrayList<>();

        String jsonString = readJsonFromRaw();

        try {
            JSONArray jsonArray = new JSONArray(jsonString);

            for (int i = 0; i < jsonArray.length(); i++) {
                JSONObject obj = jsonArray.getJSONObject(i);
                String name = obj.getString("name");
                int age = obj.getInt("age");
                String city = obj.getString("city");

                listData.add(name + " - " + age + " - " + city);
            }

            ArrayAdapter<String> adapter = new ArrayAdapter<>(
                this, android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1, listData);
            listView.setAdapter(adapter);

        } catch (JSONException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }

    // Helper function to read JSON file from raw folder
    private String readJsonFromRaw() {
        InputStream inputStream = getResources().openRawResource(R.raw.data);
        Scanner scanner = new Scanner(inputStream).useDelimiter("\\\\A");
        return scanner.hasNext() ? scanner.next() : "";
    }
}

📌 Output

When you run the app, it will display a list like this:

• Vipul - 25 - Bhavangar
• Vivaan - 30 - Ahmedabad
• Jatasya - 22 - Gandhinagar

✅ Summary

This is one of the easiest ways to get started with JSON parsing in Android using local files. No networking, no complexity. You just:

1. Put a JSON file in res/raw
2. Read the file as a string
3. Parse it using org.json
4. Show results in a ListView