Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

XML VS JSON

Compare XML VS JSON and see what are their differences

XML logo XML

Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding...

JSON logo JSON

(JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data-interchange format
  • XML Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-06-20
  • JSON Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-28

XML features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

JSON features and specs

  • Simplicity
    JSON is easy to read and write due to its straightforward syntax, making it a convenient data format for both humans and machines.
  • Language Independence
    JSON is supported by many programming languages, making it a versatile choice for data interchange across different environments.
  • Lightweight
    JSON's compact format allows for efficient data transfer, which is particularly beneficial in web applications where bandwidth is a concern.
  • Integration
    JSON easily integrates with modern web technologies and APIs, making it a preferred choice for RESTful services and web applications.
  • Data Structure
    JSON supports complex data structures, including objects and arrays, providing flexibility in representing various data forms.

Possible disadvantages of JSON

  • Limited Data Types
    JSON supports a limited set of data types, which may require additional handling when working with more complex data structures found in other formats.
  • No Comments
    JSON lacks a native mechanism for including comments within the data, which can be a limitation for documentation and readability purposes.
  • Security Concerns
    Parsing JSON can introduce security vulnerabilities if not properly handled, such as malicious data execution through insecure deserialization.
  • Verbosity
    Although lightweight, JSON can become verbose for highly nested structures, which can impact readability and processing performance.
  • Error Handling
    JSON's lack of detailed error handling mechanisms can make debugging more difficult when dealing with malformed data or parsing errors.

Analysis of JSON

Overall verdict

  • Yes, JSON is generally considered a good choice for data interchange, especially in web applications, due to its simplicity, wide support across programming languages, and ease of use.

Why this product is good

  • JSON is a lightweight data interchange format that is easy for humans to read and write and easy for machines to parse and generate. Due to its simplicity and flexibility, it has become a widely adopted standard for data exchange on the web.

Recommended for

  • Web APIs and services
  • Applications needing a lightweight data format
  • Communication between server and client
  • Configuration files
  • Data interchange between diverse systems

XML videos

What is XML | XML Beginner Tutorial | Learn XML with Demo in 10 min

More videos:

  • Review - XML REview
  • Review - oXygen XML Editor - Review Panel

JSON videos

Parsing JSON Review - Part 1

More videos:

  • Review - Parsing JSON Review - Part 2
  • Review - JSon Foreign Vol.1 Review

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to XML and JSON)
Software Development
31 31%
69% 69
Developer Tools
18 18%
82% 82
Configuration Management
31 31%
69% 69
Databases
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, JSON seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 13 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

XML mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of XML yet. Tracking of XML recommendations started around Mar 2021.

JSON mentions (13)

  • The Last Breaking Change | JSON Schema Blog
    The YAML 0.1 spec was sent to a public user group in May 2001. JSON was named in a State Software internal discussion. State Software was founded in March 2001. json.org was launched in 2002. Therefore you’re just wrong: YAML came out before JSON. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Why does wine give warnings about using 64bit prefixes, or has 32bit packages? Hasn't the world moved on from 32 bit a century ago?
    How come that doesn't apply to other libraries? For example, when I write Java or Node.js programs, I don't need to make sure packages like json.org or express.js have a 32bit or 64bit environment. What makes windows libs different than NPM libs? Source: almost 3 years ago
  • “Ignore the f'ing haters ” And other lessons learned from creating a popular
    The first two sentences of the text on http://json.org are "JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data-interchange format. It is easy for humans to read and write." It's a primary goal of JSON, it's fair to question whether it's successful at it. Personally, I'd much rather write TOML or S expressions. I don't like YAML at all, the whitespace sensitivity drives me nuts. - Source: Hacker News / almost 3 years ago
  • Recording your JSON data to MCAP, a file format that support multiple serialization formats
    To help you make the transition, we’ve written a tutorial on how to write an MCAP writer in Python to record JSON data to an MCAP file. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • replace \" with "
    What you need to probably do is to step back and learn the format for JSON, and the core data structures that you will find in most languages:. Source: almost 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing XML and JSON, you can also consider the following products

YAML - YAML 1.2 --- YAML: YAML Ain't Markup Language

LibreOffice - Base - Base, database, database frontend, LibreOffice, ODF, Open Standards, SQL, ODBC

TOML - TOML - Tom's Obvious, Minimal Language

Brilliant Database - Create a personal or business desktop database fast and easily using this simple all-in-one database software. Free 30 day trial.

Dhall Configuration Language - A non-repetitive alternative to YAML

Microsoft Office Access - Access is now much more than a way to create desktop databases. It’s an easy-to-use tool for quickly creating browser-based database applications.