[cryptonector]

Node is great, and a port of jq to node would be awesome (someone once hinted at such a port, but I've lost track of it).

But jq also has libjq, a C library. And jq uses a copy-on-write, reference counted representation of JSON values, which is, for example, inherently thread-safe (though jq isn't using atomic operations for refcount management yet). The library is easy to use and powerful.

Ultimately the main thing I love about jq (and why I contribute to it) is the jq language itself. It reminds me of my one-time favorite, Icon. But in a world where C is still the champion of systems programming (until Rust takes over?), it's real handy to have a C JSON library _and_ a functional DSL that's easy to invoke from C.

[slapresta]

One of jq's maintainers (nicowilliams) often mentions Icon as a source of inspiration.

[cryptonector]

@nicowilliams (github) and cryptonector (HN) are one and the same ;)

It's no secret either, just look at my commit messages' email address :)