The difference is the same as a (Hash)Map vs List.
JSONObject:
{ID : 1}
{id: 1, name: 'B'}
is equal to {name: 'B', id: 1}
. JSONArray:
[1, 'value']
[1,'value']
is not the same as ['value',1]
Example
JSON Object --> { "":""}
JSON Array --> [ , , , ]
{"employees":[
{"firstName":"John", "lastName":"Doe"},
{"firstName":"Anna", "lastName":"Smith"},
{"firstName":"Peter", "lastName":"Jones"}
]}