JAQL (json query language)

JAQL is a query language for the JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) data interchange format. 

Pronounced "jackal," JAQL is a functional, declarative programming language designed especially for working with large volumes of structured, semi-structured and unstructured data. As its name implies, a primary use of JAQL is to handle data stored as JSON documents, but JAQL can work on various types of data. For example, it can support XML, comma-separated values (CSV) data and flat files. A "SQL within JAQL" capability lets programmers work with structured SQL data while employing a JSON data model that's less restrictive than its Structured Query Language counterparts.

JSON has found wide use in Web and mobile applications, including large-scale big data and enterprise data warehouse applications. JAQL can run in local mode on individual systems and in cluster mode, in the latter case supporting Hadoop applications. It automatically generates MapReduce jobs and parallel queries on Hadoop systems.

JAQL was created by workers at IBM Research Labs in 2008 and released to open source. While it continues to be hosted as a project on Google Code, where a downloadable version is available under an Apache 2.0 license, the major development activity around JAQL has remained centered at IBM. The company offers the query language as part of the tools suite associated with InfoSphere BigInsights, its Hadoop platform. Working together with a workflow orchestrator, JAQL is used in BigInsights to exchange data between storage, processing and analytics jobs. It also provides links to external data and services, including relational databases and machine learning data.