CSV
PostgreSQL CSV Versus Text Format in COPY and Which to Use
PostgreSQL COPY has a CSV format and a text format that differ in delimiter, NULL marker and escaping. See the same rows in both and what a mismatch loads.
6 min read
Tag
comparison
58 posts
CSV
Excel CSV Versus RFC CSV Differences Worth Knowing About
Where Excel's CSV departs from RFC 4180: delimiter, encoding, BOM, the sep line, displayed values, formulas and the ID trap, plus a converter script.
7 min read
Excel
VBA Versus Python for Excel Automation in Real Projects
Compare VBA and Python for automating Excel by where the code runs, what it can touch, how it is tested and who maintains it, with a rule for choosing.
8 min read
JSONGuide
JSON in Go Java Rust C Sharp PHP Ruby Compared Side by Side
One order document read in Go, Java, Rust, C#, PHP, Ruby, Python, Node and Bash: unknown keys, case, nulls, big ints, depth, duplicates and strictness.
18 min read
JSONGuide
Using JSON in Application Design Without Making a Mess
A tested guide to where JSON belongs in an application: columns, API shapes, settings, events, drift and patches, with measured costs in PostgreSQL.
17 min read
JSONGuide
JSONPath JMESPath and SQL Path Expressions Compared
JSONPath, JMESPath, jq and the path dialects of PostgreSQL, MySQL and SQLite tested on one document: syntax, null handling, speed, indexes, portability.
19 min read
XML
DOM Versus SAX Versus StAX Parsing in Java Compared
The three Java XML APIs on one 36.6 MB file: DOM ran out of memory at a 256 MB heap and took 1.03 s with 1 GB, while SAX and StAX ran in 32 MB in about 0.3 s.
7 min read
CSV
Excel CSV UTF8 Versus CSV Comma Delimited Explained
Excel offers five CSV-like save formats. Here is what each writes, why plain CSV Comma Delimited loses characters, and which one to pick for each reader.
6 min read
YAML
YAML Versus JSON for Configuration Files That Last
Comments, types, size, parse speed and safety compared with measured numbers, plus why JSON is nearly valid YAML. One format costs 55 times more to parse.
6 min read
Excel
Percentile Calculations Compared Across Excel and SQL
Compare Excel PERCENTILE.INC, PERCENTILE.EXC and MEDIAN with PostgreSQL percentile_cont and percentile_disc, with worked numbers.
6 min read
Excel
Lookup With Approximate Match Versus SQL Range Join
Compare Excel approximate match lookups with SQL range joins for tiers, rates and bands: how each handles gaps, boundaries and overlaps, and which to use.
7 min read
Excel
Query Function in Sheets Versus SQL and What Maps to What
Compare the Google Sheets QUERY function with SQL: select, where, group by, order by, label and limit side by side, what QUERY lacks, and when to use which.
7 min read