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What is the best file format for configuration file?
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this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2023
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I like xml, but it isn't the easiest to read.
I hate yaml with a burning passion. At least with JSON you can compress it all down.
I'm no fan of XML. It looks messy and the schema is difficult to write, imo. XML works best as a markup language.
YAML could have been okay if it were stricter with what they consider strings, and used tabs instead of spaces.
Using whitespace was a mistake. I know all the kids love it but it's just wrong. I've never had as much difficulty explaining json or xml to users as I have yaml.
A compliant yaml parser will read json, as they're essentially siblings.. so just write your configs in json and they'll work, if you dislike yaml.
We seem to have something in common: there is a serialisation form, we strongly dislike. But what I cannot understand is: why the heck would anyone torture anyone else to read or even write XML? XML is the absolutely worst configuration language I can imagine. I mean: when is something an attribute, when a tag on its own? What is even a list? And don't forget to include a full HTTP URI for the namespace, otherwise the tag is not defined.
By the way: all valid JSON is valid yaml as well. So in theory, you can use yaml as JSON with comments.
I mainly work with windows, and powershell works great with xml.