JavaScript also has its foot in both the Algol based languages such as Java, C++ and Smalltalk, and the Lisp like declarative languages including Scheme, Prolog and Haskell among others. Not surprisingly, this means that parsing out JavaScript objects in other languages is in general simpler than just about any other representation. This idea lies at the heart of the JavaScript Object Notation, or JSON: Provide a basic syntax for serializing JavaScript objects that can in turn be used transmitted elsewhere and parsed back into JavaScript objects on another platform. Given the ubiquity of JavaScript within web clients (and the rise of XMLHttpRequest pipes) this strategy is actually quite effective ... and provides an alternative to XML in a number of cases.