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JSON vs XML

Comparing JavaScript Object Notation and Extensible Markup Language - which format should you use?

	JSON	XML
Full Name	JavaScript Object Notation	Extensible Markup Language
Extension	.json	.xml
MIME Type	application/json	application/xml
Category	data	data

JSON Pros

+Human-readable and writable
+Native support in every programming language
+Lightweight and fast to parse
+The standard for web APIs

JSON Cons

-No comments allowed in standard JSON
-No date type (dates stored as strings)
-No support for binary data
-Large files with deeply nested structures

XML Pros

+Human-readable and self-descriptive
+Platform and language independent
+Supports complex hierarchical data
+Extensive tooling and validation (XSD, DTD)

XML Cons

-Verbose - much larger than JSON or CSV
-Slower to parse than JSON
-Complex syntax rules
-Being replaced by JSON in many modern use cases

Use JSON when...

-REST API request/response data
-Configuration files
-Data storage and exchange
-Web application state management

Use XML when...

-SOAP web services
-Configuration files (Android, Maven, Spring)
-RSS/Atom feeds
-SVG graphics
-Office document formats (DOCX, XLSX)

Learn more about JSON Learn more about XML