Comparison of XML and JSON

XML and JSON can both be used to describe or store data, each with its own advantages. The choice of which to use depends on the specific requirements.

Description

XML

XML, short for Extensible Markup Language, is a language for marking up electronic documents to give them a structural representation. It can be used to mark data, define data types, and store data. XML allows users to define their own markup language and provides a unified way to describe and exchange structured data independent of applications or vendors. It has evolved from the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) and HyperText Markup Language (HTML), using Document Type Definition (DTD) to organize data. XML is platform and language agnostic, and the current standard version is XML 1.0.

JSON

JSON, or JavaScript Object Notation, is a lightweight data interchange format and a subset of the ECMAScript specification. It uses a highly compatible, completely language-independent text format to store and represent data, and the concise and clear hierarchical structure makes JSON an ideal data exchange language. It is easy to read and write and is also easily interpreted and generated by machines, effectively enhancing network transmission efficiency.

Comparison

Readability

In terms of readability, both JSON and XML are standard specifications and are relatively easy to read. They largely depend on the application scenario. For complete mapping of XML to JSON format, XML is slightly more readable. However, for simple data description, their readability is comparable.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<block name="show" >
    <content>Hello World</content>
</block>
{
    tag: "block",
    name: "show",
    children:[
        {
            tag: "content",
            children:[
                "Hello World"
            ]
        }
    ]
}

Extensibility

Both XML and JSON have good extensibility. There is nothing that XML can extend while JSON cannot, and vice versa.

Encoding Difficulty

Both XML and JSON have abundant encoding tools. However, even without tools, encoding the corresponding format in JSON is relatively easy, while encoding in XML without tools is more difficult.

Data Volume

XML data format is more redundant than JSON, generally XML is more suitable for markup documents, while JSON is more suitable for data exchange processing.

Data Parsing

Both XML and JSON have abundant parsing tools. For XML, there are two parsing methods: DOM and SAX. DOM loads the entire XML into memory for full parsing, while SAX is a progressive parsing method that processes the content gradually without needing to load the entire XML. SAX is suitable for parsing large documents. JSON only provides whole parsing solutions and works better for documents with smaller data volume.

Data Interaction

For JSON data format, many languages provide support in their standard libraries. One can directly call library functions for parsing. Particularly for front-end applications, JSON is a subset of the ECMAScript specification and integrates more conveniently with JavaScript. It is widely used in front-end applications. On the other hand, parsing XML data format generally requires third-party library support.

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Reference

https://www.cnblogs.com/SanMaoSpace/p/3139186.html