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json/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/macros/json_use_simdutf.md
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Niels Lohmann 63c10a51fc Review and extend the documentation, and check it in CI (#5638)
* Review and extend the documentation, and check it in CI

A review of all documentation pages found factual errors, dead links,
missing cross-references, and gaps in examples. This fixes them and adds
checks so the same problems are caught automatically.

Fixes:
- wrong signatures and version histories (operator!= C++20 member,
  binary() subtype type, get<PointerType>(), JSON_NO_THREAD_LOCAL, ...)
- stale descriptions (number parsing since #5283, UBJSON table, SAX
  example that no longer compiled, tsl::ordered_map advice)
- dead internal and external links; repology.org badges (the domain is
  suspended) replaced by badges that query the registries directly
- deprecation notes link the migration guide; the guide itself fixed

Additions:
- "See also" sections, cross-references, 25 runnable examples, 12
  Mermaid diagrams, new API pages for json_pointer::operator<=> and
  byte_container_with_subtype::operator==/!=
- landing page, guides for untrusted input and performance
- "unreleased" badge after versions newer than the latest release

Checks:
- strict documentation build (broken links/anchors fail it); CI and
  the publish workflow fetch the full history the build needs
- weekly external link check, Mermaid syntax check in CI
- check_structure.py: example titles, heading levels, alt texts,
  header links, docset index coverage; its unused-example check works
  again
- all examples produce the same output on every platform

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>

* Keep the customer links that could not be fixed

A dead link on the customers page is still the evidence of where the
use of the library was documented. Keep the original URLs of the entries
without a working replacement (Marne, Cisco Webex Desk Camera, Philips
Hue, CyberArk) and exclude exactly these URLs from the link check.

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>

* Correct the duplicate-key recipe's claim about SAX positions

The SAX interface's key() receives no position either; only parse_error()
does. Also note that the recipe does not report the path to the repeated
key (see discussion #5085).

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>

* Say the library is available as a single header and mention json_fwd.hpp

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>

* Correct documentation errors found while hunting for bugs

- patch/patch_inplace: list the JSON pointer errors parse_error.106-109
  and out_of_range.402/404, and quote the actual parse_error.105 message.
- unflatten: list parse_error.106/107/108 and out_of_range.404.
- to_bson: list out_of_range.415 (binary subtype above 255) and note
  that 412 and 415 are new in 3.13.0.
- to_string: state that string_t must be convertible to std::string, also
  in the StringType requirements table.
- JSON Lines: a `while (input >> j)` loop also throws after the last value
  for concatenated JSON values; show a loop that works for both.
- BON8: a string gets 0xFF only if nothing follows it in the message; a
  string at the end of an array or object is ended by 0xFE.
- custom_string_type.hpp: add operator+=(char), which the "Always
  required" list asks for (json_pointer::to_string, flatten, unflatten,
  and diff did not compile), and an ADL int_to_string for diff and items.

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>

* Cache the release headers with functools.lru_cache

Codacy (Pylint) flagged the mutable default argument that header() used
as its cache. functools.lru_cache keeps the same memoization without it.
The script's output is unchanged.

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>

---------

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>
2026-10-02 11:32:15 +02:00

3.1 KiB

JSON_USE_SIMDUTF

#define JSON_USE_SIMDUTF

When defined, the parser validates the UTF-8 content of JSON strings that come from a contiguous byte input (std::string, std::vector<char>/<std::uint8_t>, string literals, const char* ranges, …) using the simdutf library instead of the built-in scalar validator. On text with many non-ASCII characters (e.g. CJK or emoji) this can validate several times faster.

This is an opt-in external dependency. The library itself remains header-only and its behavior is unchanged: the same input is accepted or rejected either way, and every parse error is reported at the same position with the same message (simdutf is only used to fast-path valid runs; anything it flags falls back to the scalar path so the exact diagnostic is preserved). Streaming inputs (files, std::istream, wide strings, user-defined adapters) always use the scalar path.

When JSON_USE_SIMDUTF is defined you must make the simdutf.h header available on the include path and link the simdutf library. When it is not defined, no simdutf header is included and there is no dependency.

!!! note "Requires C++17"

simdutf requires C++17 and its header rejects older standards with an `#!cpp #error`. The backend is therefore only
compiled in from C++17 on. In C++11 and C++14 the macro has no effect and the scalar validator is used, which
accepts and rejects exactly the same input -- only throughput differs. Setting the macro project-wide is therefore
safe even when some translation units are built with an older standard.

!!! warning "Define consistently"

The macro selects between two definitions of the same inline validation function. It must therefore be defined
identically for **every** translation unit that includes the library; mixing translation units that define it with
ones that do not is an ODR violation. Prefer setting it as a compile definition on the target rather than with
`#!cpp #define` in individual source files.

Default definition

By default, #!cpp JSON_USE_SIMDUTF is not defined and the portable C++11 scalar validator is used.

#undef JSON_USE_SIMDUTF

Examples

??? example

The code below enables the simdutf backend for UTF-8 validation.

```cpp
#define JSON_USE_SIMDUTF 1
#include <nlohmann/json.hpp>

...
```

The project must also link against simdutf, e.g. with CMake:

```cmake
target_compile_definitions(your_target PRIVATE JSON_USE_SIMDUTF)
target_link_libraries(your_target PRIVATE simdutf::simdutf)
```

!!! hint "Testing this configuration"

The unit tests can be built against the simdutf backend with the CMake option
[`JSON_TestSimdutf`](../../integration/cmake.md#json_testsimdutf) (`OFF` by default), which fetches simdutf and
defines `JSON_USE_SIMDUTF` for every test target. The `ci_test_simdutf` target runs the whole test suite in that
configuration.

See also

Version history

  • Added in version 3.13.0.