Data Formats
Data Format Guides
Every serialization format is a set of trade-offs someone made deliberately, and knowing which trade-off you are inheriting is most of the work. These guides look at XML's schemas, namespaces and attributes; YAML's indentation rules and the surprising type coercions that turn a country code into a boolean; CSV's complete lack of a specification and the quoting rules RFC 4180 suggests anyway; TOML's flat, comment-friendly config model; and Markdown's many incompatible flavours. The recurring subject is conversion, because that is where data actually gets lost. Turning XML into JSON forces a decision about attributes and repeated elements. Turning a spreadsheet into CSV silently drops formatting, formulas and leading zeros. Turning YAML into JSON discards comments and anchors permanently. Each guide names what survives the trip, what does not, and how to keep the parts you care about.
11 guides in this topic · All posts
TOML vs YAML vs JSON: Choosing a Configuration Format
TOML, YAML and JSON compared for configuration files: comments, types, nesting, dates, tooling and the ecosystems that chose each — with a decision guide and conversions.
6 min read · Updated 2026-09-18YAML Multi-line Strings: | vs > vs Quoted (Indentation Rules)
How YAML literal | and folded > block scalars differ, what -, + and a digit change, when to quote instead, and why a run: block loses its line breaks.
9 min read · Updated 2026-09-11How to Convert CSV to JSON in JavaScript, Python and the Browser
Tested CSV to JSON code for Node (papaparse) and Python (csv.DictReader), plus type inference, nested output, streaming, and the trip back to CSV.
7 min read · Updated 2026-09-10XML Namespaces Explained: Prefixes, Default Namespaces and Common Errors
What xmlns and xmlns:prefix do, how default namespaces scope and inherit, why attributes are excluded, and why XPath returns nothing on namespaced XML.
7 min read · Updated 2026-09-10YAML Anchors, Aliases and Merge Keys Explained (With Real Config Examples)
How &anchor, *alias and the <<: merge key work in YAML, where docker-compose, GitLab CI and Helm use them, the override order, and the errors they cause.
7 min read · Updated 2026-09-10What is a CSV File? The Format Everyone Uses and Nobody Reads About
CSV explained properly: the RFC 4180 rules, how quoting really works, why Excel mangles your data, and when CSV beats JSON (and when it doesn't).
2 min read · Updated 2026-06-04How to Convert Excel to JSON (Without Writing Code)
Turn Excel or Google Sheets data into clean JSON in under a minute: paste cells directly or export CSV — with typed numbers, booleans, and proper quoting.
2 min read · Updated 2026-06-04JSON vs XML: An Honest Comparison
JSON vs XML compared without tribalism: syntax, size, attributes, namespaces, schemas, tooling — and the cases where each format genuinely wins.
2 min read · Updated 2026-06-04YAML Tutorial: Read and Write It Without Fear
Learn YAML properly: mappings, lists, multi-line strings, anchors — and the indentation and typing pitfalls that break Kubernetes and CI configs.
2 min read · Updated 2026-06-04XML Tutorial: Structure, Syntax & Survival Skills
A working developer's XML tutorial: elements, attributes, namespaces, escaping, and well-formedness rules — with the errors that actually break parsers.
2 min read · Updated 2026-06-04JSON vs YAML: Which Format When?
JSON vs YAML compared honestly: syntax, comments, whitespace pitfalls, tooling, and performance — with clear rules for when each format wins.
2 min read · Updated 2026-06-04