Quoting the [official Ion documentation](https://amzn.github.io/ion-docs/):
**Amazon Ion** is a [richly-typed](ion/:%20Tutorial/:1.%20Getting%20started#Rich.type.system), [self-describing](ion/:%20Tutorial/:1.%20Getting%20started#Self-describing), hierarchical data serialization format offering [interchangeable binary and text](https://amzn.github.io/ion-docs/guides/why.html#dual-format-interoperability) representations. The [text format](https://amzn.github.io/ion-docs/docs/spec.html) (a superset of [JSON](http://json.org/)) is easy to read and author, supporting rapid prototyping.
Quoting the [official Ion documentation](https://amzn.github.io/ion-docs/):
**Amazon Ion** is a [richly-typed](ion/:%20Tutorial/:1.%20Getting%20started#Rich.type.system), [self-describing](ion/:%20Tutorial/:1.%20Getting%20started#Self-describing), hierarchical data serialization format offering [interchangeable binary and text](https://amzn.github.io/ion-docs/guides/why.html#dual-format-interoperability) representations. The [text format](https://amzn.github.io/ion-docs/docs/spec.html) (a superset of [JSON](http://json.org/)) is easy to read and author, supporting rapid prototyping.