The problem with JSON and XML based file formats is the tendency to require further parsing to decode values from strings. A universal interchange file format would have the ability to express all common data types through the composition of atomic values and containers.
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A desirable property here is: A value expressed in a universal interchange format unambiguously expresses its type, with no question of e.g. whether a string should be interpreted as a string, an enum, or a hex encoded byte array.
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Another desirable property is diffability. JSON makes single-line semantic changes require multi-line adjustment of commas, and XML with end tags.
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Finally, real data contains some equivalent of pointers or references, often with cycles. A universal interchange format must be able to express a snapshot of this data at a point in time, including references to external data that may be found elsewhere.
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It’s the lack of this notion of local and remote references in data that leaves Java and C# requiring ad hoc database glue layers in languages that were otherwise sufficiently high-level that they could have solved the problem in a wonderfully general way.
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End of conversation
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ubjson is not terrible
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I’m sure a parser could just look at the bits of JSON rather than doing a full language conversion to a string prior to splitting it up into keys and values. Beyond deciding on sizes of keys/values ahead of time, to maintain compatibility I think you still have to at least \0.
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