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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 don't know which is the best, but yaml is the worst.
Uh no, the worst is a tie between XML and JSON.
XML because the syntax is hard to read and even harder to write, and JSON because you can't do comments. WTF.
XML is a bit verbose but otherwise easy to understand. JSON5 supports comments.
And neither requires me to explain weird formatting nuances to devops engineers.
YAML is a pain to read (lists of structures are very messy), can't be auto-formatted, and is full of weird "gotchas" (Norway, errant tabs, etc.) if you don't do things "the right way."
Requiring the use of whitespace in formatting is wrong. End of.
Somebody has to say it, so I'm taking on the duty:
If whitespace is a problem, you use the wrong editor.
Oh, yeah, nothing like telling a dba they're using the wrong editor when they're trying to configure something.
If your config format requires specific editors you're using the wrong format.
you can write json with comments and pass it through a yaml parser. try it.
I instant exit on XML conf files. I have no idea how to parse the info, maybe I should. But there are too many tags and my eyes instantly glaze over when I see it!