Structured text

Formats that write data as readable text. Each has its own rules for nesting values, quoting text and marking where one value ends and the next begins, so a person can read the file and a program can parse it.

Formats

.CSV

Comma-separated values

A plain text table, one record per line, fields split by commas.

.JSON

JavaScript Object Notation

Text format for objects, arrays, strings, numbers and booleans.

.XML

Extensible Markup Language

Nested elements with tags and attributes, written as text.

.YAML

YAML Ain’t Markup Language

Indented text for configuration: maps, lists and values.