title: javascript objects vs arrays vs JSON
body: <p>Despite much googling and hair-pulling, I can't for the life of me articulate the difference between json, objects, and arrays (in javascript).  Below is how I've been using 2-dimensional data containers (afraid to use the words "array," "object," or "json" here).  Please tell me what these two examples are?</p>
  
  <pre><code>//first example:
  [
      {"record_id":1,"name":"Frank"},
      {"record_id":2,"name":"Sally"}
  ]
  
  //second example:
  {
  "countries": 
      [
      {"id":1,"name":"Canada"},
      {"id":2,"name":"Mexico"}
      ],
  "states":
      [
      "id":1,"name":"Maine"},
      {"id":2,"name":"Alaska"}
      ]
  }
  </code></pre>