JavaScript - convert object to JSON with ordered properties

In this article we would like to show how in JavaScript create JSON from object that has ordered properties.

Quick solution:

// ONLINE-RUNNER:browser;

const isObject = (entry) => typeof entry === 'object';

const iterateKeys = (entry, callback) => {
    const keys = Object.keys(entry);
    for (const key of keys) {
        callback(key, entry[key]);
    };
};

const findKeys = (entry) => {
    if (isObject(entry)) {
        const keys = [];
        const callback = (key, value) => {
            keys.push(key);
            if (isObject(value)) {
                iterateKeys(value, callback);
            }
        };
        iterateKeys(entry, callback);
        return keys.sort();
    }
    return null;
};

const toJson = (object, indent) => {
    const keys = findKeys(object);
    return JSON.stringify(object, keys, indent);
};


// Usage example:

const indent = '    ';

const object = {
    name: 'John',  // <-------- it will be moved to 2nd position
    age: 25,       // <-------- it will be moved to 1st position
    todos: [
        'Lectures',
        'Classes'
    ]
};
const json = toJson(object, indent);

console.log(json);

Custom implementation

The solution in below example sorts properies before stringify operation.

Practical example: 

// ONLINE-RUNNER:browser;

const escapeText = (text) => {
	let result = '';
	for (let i = 0; i < text.length; ++i) {
		const code = text.charCodeAt(i);
		switch (code) {
			case 0x00: // \0 - NULL
			case 0x01: case 0x02: case 0x03: case 0x04:
			case 0x05: case 0x06: case 0x07: case 0x08:
				continue;
			case 0x09: // \t - TABULATOR
				result += '\\t';
				continue;
			case 0x0A: // \n - NEW LINE
				result += '\\n';
				continue;
			case 0x0B: case 0x0C:
				continue;
			case 0x0D: // \r - CARRIAGE RETURN
				result += '\\r';
				continue;
			case 0x0E: case 0x0F: case 0x10: case 0x11:
			case 0x12: case 0x13: case 0x14: case 0x15:
			case 0x16: case 0x17: case 0x18: case 0x19:
			case 0x1A: case 0x1B: case 0x1C: case 0x1D:
			case 0x1E: case 0x1F:
				continue;
            // allowed characters: 0x20 and 0x21
			case 0x22: // " - DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK
				result += '\\"';
				continue;
            // allowed characters: 0x23 - 0x26
			case 0x27: // ' - SINGLE QUOTATION MARK
				result += '\'';
				continue;
            // allowed characters: 0x28 - 0x5B
			case 0x5C: // \ - BACK SLASH
				result += '\\\\';
				continue;
			default:
				result += text[i];
		}
	}
	return result;
};

const getType = (object) => {
	return Object.prototype.toString.call(object);
};

const prettifyArray = (array, prefix, indent) => {
	let result = '[\n';
	for (let i = 0; i < array.length; ++i) {
		const value = prettifyEntry(array[i], prefix + indent, indent);
		if (i > 0) {
			result += ',\n'
		}
		result += prefix + indent + value;
	}
	return result + '\n' + prefix + ']';
};

const prettifyObject = (object, prefix, indent) => {
	let result = '{\n';
  	const keys = Object.keys(object);
	for (const key of keys.sort()) {
        const name = escapeText(key);
        const value = prettifyEntry(object[key], prefix + indent, indent);
        if (result.length > 2) {
          	result += ',\n'
        }
        result += prefix + indent + '"' + name + '": ' + value;
	}
	return result + '\n' + prefix + '}';
};

const prettifyEntry = (entry, prefix, indent) => {
  	const type = getType(entry);
  	switch(type) {
    	case '[object Array]':
      		return prettifyArray(entry, prefix, indent);
      	case '[object Object]':
      		return prettifyObject(entry, prefix, indent);
    	case '[object Null]':
      		return null;
        case '[object Boolean]':
        case '[object Number]':
        case '[object BigInt]':
          	return entry;
      	case '[object String]':
        	return '"' + escapeText(entry) + '"';
      	default:
        	throw new Error(type + ' type is not permitted in json.');
  	}
};

const stringifyObject = (object, indent) => {
    return prettifyEntry(object, '', indent || '\t');
};

// Usage example:

const indent = '    ';

const object = {
    "name": "John",
    "age": 25,
    "todos": [
        "Lectures",
        "Classes"
    ]
};
const json = stringifyObject(object, indent);

console.log(json);