Yes, We did. Here's why:
JSON is practically a subset of the object literal notation of JavaScript, so it can be used to represent JavaScript object literals. This means JSON can serve as a data-interchange language. Although it was defined in the context of JavaScript, JSON is in fact a language-independent data format. A variety of programming languages can parse and generate JSON data.
Additionally, JSON can often be used in JavaScript programs without requiring parsing or serializing. It is a text-based way of representing JavaScript object literals, arrays, and scalar data. JSON is easy for software to parse and generate. It is often used for serializing structured data and exchanging it over a network, typically between a server and web applications.
JSON data has often been stored in NoSQL databases such as Oracle NoSQL Database and Oracle Berkeley DB. These allow for storage and retrieval of data that is not based on any schema, but they do not offer the rigorous consistency models of relational databases. You can get around this by using a relational database in parallel with a NoSQL database, but applications using JSON data stored in the NoSQL database must then ensure data integrity themselves.
So for these reasons (and maybe a few more) Oracle Database 12c supports JSON natively with relational database features, including transactions, indexing, declarative querying, and views. Oracle Database queries are declarative, so you can join JSON data with relational data. And you can project JSON data relationally, making it available for relational processes and tools. You can also query, from within the database, JSON data that is stored outside the database, in an external table.
And, it's good to know you can access JSON data stored in the database the same way you access other database data, including using OCI, .NET, and JDBC.
Get more information about JSON support in Oracle Database 12c. You can start with the XML DB Developer's Guide (I DID!).
Ciao for Now!
LKR