Return the first member of duplicate keys from lookups again

Looking up the last member of a duplicate key cannot stop at a match, so
every lookup scanned the whole object (1.6 to 3.4 times slower for small
objects). operator[](key), at, find, value, contains, count, and JSON
pointer resolution return the first member again, as yyjson and simdjson
do; materialize() and get<map>() keep the last value, as parse().

The documentation says so in the feature page and on each lookup page,
and explains how to get the value parse() would give. The integer index
templates and the discarded chaining of operator[] stay.

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>
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Niels Lohmann committed 2026-10-17 08:30:55 +02:00
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@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ T value(const json_pointer& ptr, const T& default_value) const;
string_t value(const json_pointer& ptr, const char* default_value) const;
```
1. Returns the value of the object member with key `key` -- the last one, should the key occur more than once (see
1. Returns the value of the object member with key `key` -- the first one, should the key occur more than once (see
[Notes on duplicate keys](operator[].md#notes)) -- converted to `T`, or `default_value` if there is no such member.
2. Returns the value a JSON pointer `ptr` refers to, starting at this value, converted to `T`, or `default_value` if
`ptr` cannot be resolved.
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ equivalent) deduce `string_t`, not `const char*`, for their return type and for
## Return value
1. the last member with key `key`, converted to `T`, or `default_value`
1. the first member with key `key`, converted to `T`, or `default_value`
2. the value `ptr` resolves to, converted to `T`, or `default_value`
## Exception safety
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ None of these exceptions carry a [`JSON_DIAGNOSTICS`](../macros/json_diagnostics
## Complexity
1. Linear in the number of members: as for [`operator[]`](operator[].md#complexity), members are compared one after
another, in document order, scanning all of them, since the last match is wanted. Plus the complexity of converting
another, in document order, stopping at the first match. Plus the complexity of converting
the found member to `T` (see [`get`](get.md)).
2. Linear in the number of reference tokens of `ptr` and, for each token, in the number of members of the object at
that level or the index into the array -- as for the [`operator[]`](operator[].md#complexity) and
@@ -77,6 +77,13 @@ None of these exceptions carry a [`JSON_DIAGNOSTICS`](../macros/json_diagnostics
## Notes
!!! warning "Duplicate keys: the first member wins"
If the source text repeats a key, this resolves to the *first* member with it, not to the last one that
[`materialize()`](materialize.md) and `parse()` keep. See the [Notes on duplicate keys](operator[].md#notes) of
`operator[]` and [Duplicate keys](../../features/json_view.md#duplicate-keys) for the reasons and for how to get
the last value.
!!! info "Differences to `at` and `operator[]`"
Unlike [`at`](at.md), this function does not throw if `key`/`ptr` resolves to no value. Unlike