Question

JavaScriptSerializer oSerializer = new JavaScriptSerializer();
object i = 3;
string sJSON =  oSerializer.Serialize(i); //"3"

The JavaScriptSerializer should serialize its parameter to JSON!

And the result is “3” ( which is not JSON)

What am I missing?

edit

Ive written a mail to douglas crockford

3 is not a json object/text but json value.

so i think msdn should clarify the serialize method.

https://i.stack.imgur.com/VOh3X.png

Answer 1

As has been said many times by different people, the output you are receiving is valid JSON.

From the JSON Specification (the Introduction):

JSON can represent four primitive types (strings, numbers, booleans, and null) and two structured types (objects and arrays).

and further (Section 2.1):

A JSON value MUST be an object, array, number, or string, or one of the following three literal names:

false null true

My interpretation of specification tells me that the case you describe here is more a JSON value than a JSON object.