Understanding JSON Schema Terminology: Schemas, Dialects, Vocabularies, and Metaschemas Explained

If you've ever tried to dive into JSON Schema, you've probably encountered a wall of terminology that makes your head spin: schemas, metaschemas, dialects, vocabularies, keywords, anchors, dynamic references.

The problem isn't that the concepts are inherently difficult. The terminology creates artificial barriers to understanding.

I've been working on a Haskell JSON Schema library that's actually fully spec-compliant, which meant I had to figure all of this out.

It feels like the community invented new words for things that already had perfectly good names, just to make the rest of us feel inadequate.

An accessible guide to understanding the confusing terminology around JSON Schema.