JSON
Why JSON Has No Comments and What People Do Instead
JSON has no comment syntax by design, so a // note fails in every parser tested. What people do instead: _comment keys, $comment, JSONC, JSON5 and YAML.
6 min read
Tag
explainer
59 posts
CSV
Converting a CSV to Parquet and Why You Might Want To
One DuckDB statement turned a 130 MB CSV into a 34 MB Parquet file; typed columns, dictionary encoding and min/max statistics explain the faster queries.
10 min read
XMLGuide
What XML Is Good At and Why It Still Shows Up in Your Data
A tested beginner guide to XML: where you will meet it in data work, what it does better than JSON, how it is structured, and the first checks to run.
17 min read
ExcelGuide
What Is Inside an Excel File and What It Means for Data
See what an XLSX workbook really contains, from cell types and shared strings to dates, formulas, styles and limits, and what each part means for your data.
17 min read
JSONGuide
What JSON Allows and What Parsers Quietly Accept in Practice
The JSON grammar fits on a page, and parsers still disagree on trailing commas, NaN, duplicate keys, big numbers and more. A 26-case test across five parsers.
17 min read
XML
When XML Is Still the Right Format and When It Is Not
Documents with inline markup, schemas that partners must honor, signatures and long-lived standards keep XML in use. A checklist of five situations.
6 min read
YAML
YAML 1.1 Versus 1.2 and Why the Difference Really Matters
The same 33 scalar values loaded by a 1.1 parser and a 1.2 parser: booleans, octal, base 60 and floats. Which libraries implement which, and how to stay safe.
5 min read
XML
Canonical XML and Why Your Diffs Need It Before Comparing
Three XML files with the same meaning gave three different checksums. Canonical XML (C14N) fixes attribute order and quoting, but not whitespace.
6 min read
YAML
YAML Null Values and the Empty String Question Answered
Six ways to write null in YAML, how they differ from the empty string, and what a key with no value, an empty list and an absent key mean to your code.
6 min read
Excel
Shared Excel Files and the Lost Update Problem Explained
How two people editing the same Excel file lose each other's changes, what co-authoring and locks do about it, and how a database prevents lost updates.
7 min read
YAML
YAML Indentation Rules and Why Tabs Break Everything
How YAML uses spaces to build structure, why a tab is rejected, and how one extra space turns a sibling into a child. Real parser output for each case.
6 min read
XML
XQuery Basics With BaseX Using FLWOR on XML Files Fast
Query XML with XQuery in BaseX: for, let, where, order by and return, group by with exact decimals, and element constructors, on two sample files.
6 min read