Confused about the use of JSON.parse and JSON.stringify in "JSON APIs and Ajax: Get JSON with the JavaScript XMLHttpRequest Method"

Hi all,

I’m a bit confused about this challenge:

The challenge itself is easy, and I am able to put the right code:

      req = new XMLHttpRequest();
      req.open("GET", "/json/cats.json",true);
      req.send();
      req.onload = function() {
        json = JSON.parse(req.responseText);
        document.getElementsByClassName('message')[0].innerHTML = JSON.stringify(json);
      };

However, I am not sure if I understand the point of parsing the responseText as a JS object, only to parse it as a string again.

That is, is there a reason why we are not just putting the responseText directly into the innerHTML?

      req = new XMLHttpRequest();
      req.open("GET", "/json/cats.json",true);
      req.send();
      req.onload = function() {
   document.getElementsByClassName('message')[0].innerHTML = req.responseText
      };

Note: In fact, it seems setting innerHTML = req.responseText is an accepted solution. I’m still wondering if there is a reason to follow the sample code in the lesson.