Data Serialization Formats

Compare JSON, YAML, TOML, and XML to choose the right format for your project.

JSON

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is the most widely used data serialization format. It is lightweight, human-readable, and natively supported in JavaScript. JSON supports strings, numbers, booleans, arrays, objects, and null.

YAML

YAML (YAML Ain't Markup Language) prioritizes human readability with indentation-based structure. It is popular for configuration files (Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines) and supports comments, multi-line strings, and complex data types.

TOML

TOML (Tom's Obvious Minimal Language) is designed for configuration files with an emphasis on readability. It uses INI-like sections (headers in square brackets) and supports tables, arrays, and various data types. It is used by Rust's Cargo and Python's pyproject.toml.

XML

XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is a verbose but powerful format that supports custom schemas, namespaces, and attributes. It is still widely used in enterprise systems, SOAP APIs, and document storage.

Choosing the Right Format

Use JSON for web APIs and data interchange. Use YAML for configuration files. Use TOML for simple, human-editable configs. Use XML when schema validation or document-oriented data is required. Our Converters help you move between formats seamlessly.