JToken.ReadFrom vs JToken.Load? - json.net

Question

The Json.net documentation between these 2 methods are exactly the same.
JToken.ReadFrom
JToken.Load
Both are static methods. Both have the same signatures.
Is there a preferred method? Does one depend on the next?

Answer 1

They are functionally identical.
In the abstract JToken class, Load ultimately calls ReadFrom, which figures out which type of JToken is being read and then delegates to the Load methods of the concrete subclasses as appropriate. JArray, JObject, JProperty and JConstrutor all have their own versions of Load which hide JToken.Load and create and return that object type (i.e. JObject.Load creates a JObject, etc.) Note that JValue does not have a Load method of its own, so that is handled in JToken.ReadFrom.
You can see for yourself in the source code:
public static JToken Load(JsonReader reader)
{
return Load(reader, null);
}
public static JToken Load(JsonReader reader, JsonLoadSettings? settings)
{
return ReadFrom(reader, settings);
}
public static JToken ReadFrom(JsonReader reader)
{
return ReadFrom(reader, null);
}
public static JToken ReadFrom(JsonReader reader, JsonLoadSettings? settings)
{
ValidationUtils.ArgumentNotNull(reader, nameof(reader));
...
switch (reader.TokenType)
{
case JsonToken.StartObject:
return JObject.Load(reader, settings);
case JsonToken.StartArray:
return JArray.Load(reader, settings);
case JsonToken.StartConstructor:
return JConstructor.Load(reader, settings);
case JsonToken.PropertyName:
return JProperty.Load(reader, settings);
case JsonToken.String:
case JsonToken.Integer:
case JsonToken.Float:
case JsonToken.Date:
case JsonToken.Boolean:
case JsonToken.Bytes:
JValue v = new JValue(reader.Value);
v.SetLineInfo(lineInfo, settings);
return v;
case JsonToken.Comment:
v = JValue.CreateComment(reader.Value!.ToString());
v.SetLineInfo(lineInfo, settings);
return v;
case JsonToken.Null:
v = JValue.CreateNull();
v.SetLineInfo(lineInfo, settings);
return v;
case JsonToken.Undefined:
v = JValue.CreateUndefined();
v.SetLineInfo(lineInfo, settings);
return v;
default:
throw JsonReaderException.Create(reader, "Error reading JToken from JsonReader. Unexpected token: {0}".FormatWith(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, reader.TokenType));
}
}