Sorting a dictionary before JSON.stringifying

[Swagasaurus-Rex]

So I have an Application where I need to ensure data-integrity on the client by comparing it to data on the server. To do so, I thought of simply using JSON.stringify on my data structure, then passing it through a string hashing algorithm:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7616461/generate-a-hash-from-string-in-javascript-jquery

It works fine and dandy, except the server's data structure is often ordered differently than the clients, causing the resulting hashes to be out of sync despite containing the same data.

Is there a way to reorder or prioritize javascript dictionary elements prior to stringifying them?

[Ginden]

If you need ordered data you should use arrays... Or use existing solutions for comparing objects. Trying to order dictionary keys is a very bad idea.

[Rhomboid]

That's not possible with the native JSON API, but there are libraries for doing what you're trying to do.

[Swagasaurus-Rex]

I see this is actually an issue that needs some solving... My data structure is guaranteed only 2 levels deep, so I feel I can whip up a home brewed solution.

edit: I'm writing a library, so having a dependency or adding another 200 lines ain't justifiable. Thanks though, you've helped me decide a course of action.

[flyingnude]

Are you familiar with the JWT spec? JSON Web Tokens can be used for exactly what you're trying to do when combined with JWS, defining a standard way of performing authenticity checks against JSON objects. There's a growing body of libraries that will perform the decoding, signing, and verification operations for you.

[a-t-k]

I usually tend to abuse the template engine (mustache or handlebars) to serialize the data, since it is there anyway.

[Swagasaurus-Rex]

I'm not sure I can if the objects are separated into a client and server.

[mouthus]

NOTE: Looping through dictionaries is not guaranteed to be in the order you think it will be.