I have to implement x-level deep navigation menu for a website. After I spent few hours trying to come up with a good way for storing, manipulating, and displaying this tree, I decided to go with JSON over MySQL. I'd either put it in a file, or in a field in a MySQL (Tho I think it may be an overkill since it is just one row with one field).
I am using jQuery nestable list plugin, and the reason why I'd like to go with JSON is that I can directly manipulate items data as they are DOM elements (which I find much easier than passing ID's and taking care of which elements are for deletion, which should be updated, and which should be added), and get serialized output, save it "as is" in a file, and when it comes to laying it out into horizontal multi-level dropdown menu, I can do it with help of PHP respecting items orders and nesting made by plugin.
Is this bad practice for some reason? Performance wise?