How must double quotes be handled when manipulating JSON or metadata files?

When working with JSON or metadata files, double quotes serve a crucial function for defining string values and object keys. In JSON formatting, all string literals must be enclosed in double quotes. Therefore, when double quotes appear within the content of a string, they could disrupt the proper parsing of the JSON structure.

To handle double quotes correctly without altering the intended content of the string, they need to be escaped using a backslash. For example, converting a string like She said, "Hello." into JSON would require it to be formatted as She said, \"Hello.\". By escaping the double quotes, they are preserved as part of the string instead of being interpreted as terminators for the string value itself. This practice ensures that the JSON remains valid and properly formatted, allowing for successful parsing and manipulation by applications that utilize this data.

This requirement for escaping ensures that the JSON parser can reliably interpret the structure and data within the file, thus maintaining the integrity of the information being represented.