JSON vs XML: How Do They Compare?

JSON and XML are two human-readable text formats that have emerged as rivals over the years. XML’s purpose is storing and defining documents and data through the optional use of a schema. JSON was almost the exact opposite – a serialization format with requirements so simple they fit on the back of a credit card. But, when should you use one or the other? We have to take into account that XML and JSON have similarities and differences that can affect your application’s performance.

In this article, we will outline what’s going on, and what you need to know about JSON and XML.

Background

JavaScript caused a seismic shift in web development with the creation of Node (which is really server-side JavaScript). Everything from this point on got replaced with REST APIs and JSON. JSON became the most efficient data structure standard in web apps. Web 1.0 was hindered with parsing data structures and caused innovation to slow down, while Web 2.0 created an explosion in productivity and Moore’s Law kicked in. JavaScript, which was considered a dead language at one point, was revived and is now one of the most popular languages in 2019.

Comparing JSON and XML

Similarities:

Both are human readable.
Both are hierarchal with a values within values format.
Both can be parsed and used by a number of languages.

Differences:

JSON

Shorter
Quicker to parse
Uses arrays
Parsed by a standard JavaScript function
Data interchange format

XML

Needs an XML parser.
Longer to parse.
Doesn’t use Arrays!!

Which should I consider?

Everyone has their own opinion about JSON and XML. As a developer, I more or less stick to JSON in my projects unless an API requires XML parsing.

XML is still being used actively in web publishing to create interactive pages. It’s also used for searching the web, metadata and pervasive computing, which is another way to say wireless devices, like cell phones.

Depending on the type of application, it will vary based on what best fits your application to access information.

What’s going on

As applications and platforms evolved, efficiency and performance have been the status quo in priority. APIs evolved over the years to become leaner, and JSON has overtaken XML as the preferred format among developers and technology stacks.

Thanks for reading ❤

If you liked this post, please do share/like it with all of your programming buddies!

Follow us on Facebook | Twitter

What is GEEK

Buddha Community

Brandon Adams

1625637060

What is JSON? | JSON Objects and JSON Arrays | Working with JSONs Tutorial

In this video, we work with JSONs, which are a common data format for most web services (i.e. APIs). Thank you for watching and happy coding!

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#jsons #json arrays #json objects #what is json #jsons tutorial #blondiebytes

Thomas Granger

1567153125

JSON vs XML: How Do They Compare?

JSON and XML are two human-readable text formats that have emerged as rivals over the years. XML’s purpose is storing and defining documents and data through the optional use of a schema. JSON was almost the exact opposite – a serialization format with requirements so simple they fit on the back of a credit card. But, when should you use one or the other? We have to take into account that XML and JSON have similarities and differences that can affect your application’s performance.

In this article, we will outline what’s going on, and what you need to know about JSON and XML.

Background

JavaScript caused a seismic shift in web development with the creation of Node (which is really server-side JavaScript). Everything from this point on got replaced with REST APIs and JSON. JSON became the most efficient data structure standard in web apps. Web 1.0 was hindered with parsing data structures and caused innovation to slow down, while Web 2.0 created an explosion in productivity and Moore’s Law kicked in. JavaScript, which was considered a dead language at one point, was revived and is now one of the most popular languages in 2019.

Comparing JSON and XML

Similarities:

Both are human readable.
Both are hierarchal with a values within values format.
Both can be parsed and used by a number of languages.

Differences:

JSON

Shorter
Quicker to parse
Uses arrays
Parsed by a standard JavaScript function
Data interchange format

XML

Needs an XML parser.
Longer to parse.
Doesn’t use Arrays!!

Which should I consider?

Everyone has their own opinion about JSON and XML. As a developer, I more or less stick to JSON in my projects unless an API requires XML parsing.

XML is still being used actively in web publishing to create interactive pages. It’s also used for searching the web, metadata and pervasive computing, which is another way to say wireless devices, like cell phones.

Depending on the type of application, it will vary based on what best fits your application to access information.

What’s going on

As applications and platforms evolved, efficiency and performance have been the status quo in priority. APIs evolved over the years to become leaner, and JSON has overtaken XML as the preferred format among developers and technology stacks.

Thanks for reading ❤

If you liked this post, please do share/like it with all of your programming buddies!

Follow us on Facebook | Twitter

How native is React Native? | React Native vs Native App Development

If you are undertaking a mobile app development for your start-up or enterprise, you are likely wondering whether to use React Native. As a popular development framework, React Native helps you to develop near-native mobile apps. However, you are probably also wondering how close you can get to a native app by using React Native. How native is React Native?

In the article, we discuss the similarities between native mobile development and development using React Native. We also touch upon where they differ and how to bridge the gaps. Read on.

A brief introduction to React Native

Let’s briefly set the context first. We will briefly touch upon what React Native is and how it differs from earlier hybrid frameworks.

React Native is a popular JavaScript framework that Facebook has created. You can use this open-source framework to code natively rendering Android and iOS mobile apps. You can use it to develop web apps too.

Facebook has developed React Native based on React, its JavaScript library. The first release of React Native came in March 2015. At the time of writing this article, the latest stable release of React Native is 0.62.0, and it was released in March 2020.

Although relatively new, React Native has acquired a high degree of popularity. The “Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2019” report identifies it as the 8th most loved framework. Facebook, Walmart, and Bloomberg are some of the top companies that use React Native.

The popularity of React Native comes from its advantages. Some of its advantages are as follows:

Performance: It delivers optimal performance.
Cross-platform development: You can develop both Android and iOS apps with it. The reuse of code expedites development and reduces costs.
UI design: React Native enables you to design simple and responsive UI for your mobile app.
3rd party plugins: This framework supports 3rd party plugins.
Developer community: A vibrant community of developers support React Native.

Why React Native is fundamentally different from earlier hybrid frameworks

Are you wondering whether React Native is just another of those hybrid frameworks like Ionic or Cordova? It’s not! React Native is fundamentally different from these earlier hybrid frameworks.

React Native is very close to native. Consider the following aspects as described on the React Native website:

Access to many native platforms features: The primitives of React Native render to native platform UI. This means that your React Native app will use many native platform APIs as native apps would do.
Near-native user experience: React Native provides several native components, and these are platform agnostic.
The ease of accessing native APIs: React Native uses a declarative UI paradigm. This enables React Native to interact easily with native platform APIs since React Native wraps existing native code.

Due to these factors, React Native offers many more advantages compared to those earlier hybrid frameworks. We now review them.

#android app #frontend #ios app #mobile app development #benefits of react native #is react native good for mobile app development #native vs #pros and cons of react native #react mobile development #react native development #react native experience #react native framework #react native ios vs android #react native pros and cons #react native vs android #react native vs native #react native vs native performance #react vs native #why react native #why use react native

Connor Mills

1668238299

YAML vs JSON vs XML: Which One to Choose?

In this tutorial, you will learn how YAML compares to XML and JSON - two languages also used for creating configuration files. XML VS JSON VS YAML - What's The Difference?

YAML is one of the most popular languages for writing configuration files.

In this article, you will learn how YAML compares to XML and JSON - two languages also used for creating configuration files.

You will also learn some of the rules and features of the language, along with its basic syntax.

Here is what we will cover:

What is YAML?
XML VS JSON VS YAML - What's The Difference?
1. XML
2. JSON
3. YAML
Features and basic rules of YAML
1. How to create a YAML file
2. Multi-document support in YAML
3. Indentation in YAML
4. Tabs in YAML
5. Whitespace in YAML
6. Explicit data types in YAML
An introduction to YAML syntax
1. Scalars
2. Collections

What is YAML?

YAML stands for YAML Ain't Markup Language, but it originally stood for Yet Another Markup Language.

YAML is a human-readable data serialization language, just like XML and JSON.

Serialization is a process where one application or service that has different data structures and is written in a different set of technologies can transfer data to another application using a standard format.

In other words, serialization is about translating, converting, and wrapping up a data structure in another format.

The data in the new format can be stored in a file or transmitted to another application or service over a network.

YAML is a widely used format for writing configuration files for different DevOps tools, programs, and applications because of its human-readable and intuitive syntax.

XML VS JSON VS YAML - What's The Difference?

XML, JSON, and YAML are all used for creating configuration files and transferring data between applications.

Each language has its advantages and disadvantages.

Now, let's see some of the characteristics of the three languages. You will also see an example of how the same code is written in each language to demonstrate the high-level differences in their syntax.

XML

XML, which stands for Extensible Markup Language, was first introduced in 1996 and was designed for general-purpose use.

XML is a generalized markup language. It offers a structured yet flexible syntax and a defined document schema. This makes it a good choice when working with complex configurations that require a structured format and finer control over schema validation to ensure configurations always have the correct format.

With that said, XML's syntax can be verbose, redundant, and harder to read in comparison with other serialization languages.

<Employees>
    <Employee> 
        <name> John Doe </name>
        <department> Engineering </department>
        <country> USA </country>
    </Employee>
     <Employee> 
        <name> Kate Kateson </name>
        <department> IT Support </department>
        <country> United Kingdom </country>
    </Employee>
</Employees>

JSON

JSON stands for JavaScript Object Notation and has been around since the early 2000s.

JSON was initially inspired by the JavaScript programming language, but it is not tied to only one language. Instead, it is a language-independent format.

Most modern programming languages have libraries for parsing and generating JSON data.

JSON offers a much more readable, human-friendly, compact, and simple syntax compared to XML. It makes for a great format for storing and transferring information between web applications and servers over a network.

With that said, it may not offer the best support for complex configurations.

{
	"Employees": [
    {
			"name": "John Doe",
			"department": "Engineering",
			"country": "USA"
		},

		{
			"name": "Kate Kateson",
			"department": "IT support",
			"country": "United Kingdom"
		}
	]
}

YAML

YAML, originally known as Yet Another Markup Language, was created in 2001 but now stands for YAML Ain't Markup Language.

YAML is an official strict superset of JSON despite looking very different from JSON.

YAML can do everything that JSON can and more. A valid YAML file can contain JSON, and JSON can transform into YAML.

YAML has the most human-readable, intuitive, and compact syntax for defining configurations compared to XML and JSON.

YAML uses indentation to define structure in the file, which is helpful if you are used to writing Python code and are familiar with the indentation style the language uses.

With that said, if you don't get the indentation and format right, it can lead to validation errors, making it not the friendliest for beginners.

Employees:
- name: John Doe
  department: Engineering
  country: USA
- name: Kate Kateson
  department: IT support
  country: United Kingdom

Features and Basic Rules of YAML

Now, let's go over some of the basic rules and features of the language.

How to Create a YAML File

To create a YAML file, use either the .yaml or .yml file extension.

Multi-Document Support in YAML

Before writing any YAML code, you can add three dashes (---) at the start of the file:

---
Employees:
- name: John Doe
  department: Engineering
  country: USA
- name: Kate Kateson
  department: IT support
  country: United Kingdom

YAML allows you to have multiple YAML documents in a singe YAML file, making file organization much easier.

Separate each document with three dashes (---):

---
Employees:
- name: John Doe
  department: Engineering
  country: USA
- name: Kate Kateson
  department: IT support
  country: United Kingdom
---
Fruit:
 - Oranges
 - Pears
 - Apples

You can also use three dots (...) to mark the end of the document:

---
Employees:
- name: John Doe
  department: Engineering
  country: USA
- name: Kate Kateson
  department: IT support
  country: United Kingdom
...

Indentation in YAML

In YAML, there is an emphasis on indentation and line separation to denote levels and structure in data. The indentation system is quite similar to the one Python uses.

YAML doesn't use symbols such as curly braces, square brackets, or opening or closing tags - just indentation.

Tabs in YAML

YAML doesn't allow you to use any tabs when creating indentation - use spaces instead.

Whitespace in YAML

Whitespace doesn't matter as long as child elements are indented inside the parent element.

How to Write A Comment in YAML

To add a comment to comment out a line of code, use the # character:

---
# Employees in my company
Employees:
- name: John Doe
  department: Engineering
  country: USA
- name: Kate Kateson
  department: IT support
  country: United Kingdom

Explicit Data Types in YAML

Although YAML auto-detects the data types in a file, you can specify the type of data you want to use.

To explicitly specify the type of data, use the !! symbol and the name of the data type before the value:

# parse this value as a string
date: !!str 2022-11-11

## parse this value as a float (it will be 1.0 instead of 1)
fave_number: !!float 1

An Introduction to YAML Syntax

Scalars

Scalars in YAML are the data on the page - strings, numbers, booleans, and nulls.

Let's see some examples of how to use each one.

In YAML, strings in some cases can be left unquoted, but you can also wrap them in single (' ') or double (" ") quotation marks:

A string in YAML!

'A string in YAML!'

"A string in YAML!"

If you want to write a string that spans across multiple lines and you want to preserve the line breaks, use the pipe symbol (|):

|
 I am message that spans multiple lines
 I go on and on across lines
 and lines
 and more lines

Make sure that the message is indented!

Alternatively, if you have a string in a YAML file that spans across multiple lines for readability, but you want the parser to interpret it as a single line string, you can use the > character, which will replace each line break with a space:

>
 I am message that spans
 multiple lines
 but I will be parsed
 on one line

Again, make sure you don't forget to indent the message!

Numbers express numerical data, and in YAML, these include integers (whole numbers), floats (numbers with a decimal point), exponentials, octals, and hexadecimals:

# integer
19

# float 
8.7

# exponential
4.5e+13

# octal 
0o23

# hexadecimal
0xFF

Booleans in YAML, and other programming languages, have one of two states and are expressed with either true or false.

Words like true and false are keywords in YAML, so don't surround them with quotation marks if you want them interpreted as booleans.

Lastly, Null values are expressed with the keyword null or the tilde character, ~.

Collections

More often than not, you will not be writing simple scalars in your YAML files - you will be using collections instead.

Collections in YAML can be:

Sequences (lists/arrays)
Mappings (dictionaries/hashes)

To write a sequence, use a dash (-) followed by a space:

- HTML
- CSS
- JavaScript

Each item in the sequence (list) is placed on a separate line, with a dash in front of the value.

And each item in the list is on the same level.

That said, you can create a nested sequence (remember, use spaces - not tabs - to create the levels of indentation):

- HTML
- CSS
- JavaScript
 - React
 - Angular
 - Vue

In the sequence above, React, Angular and Vue are sub-items of the item JavaScript.

Mappings allow you to list keys with values. Key/value pairs are the building blocks of YAML documents.

Use a colon (:) followed by a space to create key/value pairs:

Employees:
 name: John Doe
 age: 23
 country: USA

In the example above, a name gets assigned to a specific value.

The value John Doe gets mapped (or assigned) to the name key, the value 23 gets mapped to the age key, and the value USA gets mapped to the country key. Altogether, these create an object.

You can also use a mapping with a sequence.

For example, taking the example sequence from earlier on, here is how you would build a list of frontend_languages:

frontend_languages:
 - HTML
 - CSS
 - JavaScript
  - React
  - Angular
  - Vue

In the example above, I created a list of frontend_languages, where there are multiple values under the same key, frontend_languages.

Similarly, you can create a list of objects:

Employees:
- name: John Doe
  department: Engineering
  country: USA
- name: Kate Kateson
  department: IT support
  country: United Kingdom

Conclusion

Hopefully, this article was helpful and gave you insight into what YAML is, what the syntax of the language looks like, and how it differs from XML and JSON.

Thank you for reading, and happy coding!

Original article source at https://www.freecodecamp.org

#yaml #json #xml

Dexter Goodwin

1636110780

Difference YAML vs JSON vs XML: Which One to Choose?

You would have come across these formats a lot in your codebase or during everyday work but many times, we don't understand the differences between them. This becomes especially important while managing configs and properties in your code. I will try to shine a little light on these as best I can to help you understand which one to use for your specific case.

JSON vs XML: How Do They Compare?

Background

Comparing JSON and XML

Which should I consider?

What’s going on

Further reading about JavaScript

What is GEEK

Buddha Community

What is JSON? | JSON Objects and JSON Arrays | Working with JSONs Tutorial

JSON vs XML: How Do They Compare?

Background

Comparing JSON and XML

Which should I consider?

What’s going on

Further reading about JavaScript

How native is React Native? | React Native vs Native App Development

A brief introduction to React Native

Why React Native is fundamentally different from earlier hybrid frameworks

YAML vs JSON vs XML: Which One to Choose?

In this tutorial, you will learn how YAML compares to XML and JSON - two languages also used for creating configuration files. XML VS JSON VS YAML - What's The Difference?

What is YAML?

XML VS JSON VS YAML - What's The Difference?

XML

JSON

YAML

Features and Basic Rules of YAML

How to Create a YAML File

Multi-Document Support in YAML

Indentation in YAML

Tabs in YAML

Whitespace in YAML

How to Write A Comment in YAML

Explicit Data Types in YAML

An Introduction to YAML Syntax

Scalars

Collections

Conclusion

Difference YAML vs JSON vs XML: Which One to Choose?

#yaml #json #xml #javascript