We Wrote a JSON Parser from Scratch in 72 Hours to Prove We Still Could
dev.to·
With supply chain risks mounting—from package compromise and malicious worms to AI coding tools hallucinating non-existent package names—relying on heavy external dependencies introduces severe architectural risk. To test the boundaries of self-reliance, the authors built JValue, a zero-dependency JSON toolkit for Java 25, within a 72-hour window. Shipping a hand-written recursive-descent parser, serializer, and RFC 6901 JSON Pointer implementation in under 3,000 lines of code, the project demonstrates how low-level core primitives work under the hood. For backend engineers, mastering underlying data parsing fundamentals and minimizing external dependency footprints is a crucial step toward building robust, secure backend systems.