JSON vs MessagePack

Overview

JSON

Stacks2.0K

Followers1.6K

Votes9

MessagePack

Stacks51

Followers79

Votes1

GitHub Stars7.3K

Forks521

JSON vs MessagePack: What are the differences?

Introduction

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) and MessagePack are both data interchange formats that are used to serialize and deserialize data. They provide a standardized way of representing data structures in a platform-independent way. While both formats serve the same purpose, there are several key differences between them.

Serialization Format: JSON is a text-based format, whereas MessagePack is binary-based. JSON uses human-readable text to represent data, which makes it easier for humans to read and write. On the other hand, MessagePack uses binary encoding, which results in more compact data representation and faster serialization and deserialization.
Data Compactness: MessagePack is more compact than JSON, which means that it requires less storage space and results in smaller network payloads. MessagePack achieves this compactness by using binary encoding and omitting unnecessary information, such as field names, which are implied by the data structure.
Data Type Support: JSON supports a limited set of data types, including strings, numbers, booleans, arrays, and objects. MessagePack, on the other hand, supports a wider range of data types, such as integers of different sizes, floating-point numbers, booleans, strings, arrays, maps, and binary data. This increased data type support allows MessagePack to represent complex data structures more accurately.
Language Support: JSON is widely supported in programming languages and has native support in JavaScript. It is also supported in other languages through libraries or APIs. MessagePack also provides support for various programming languages, but the range of libraries and APIs available may be more limited compared to JSON.
Error Handling: JSON includes built-in support for error handling, with well-defined error messages and a clear structure for representing error information. MessagePack, on the other hand, does not have built-in error handling mechanisms. It is up to the application to define how errors are handled when using MessagePack.
Compatibility: JSON is widely used and supported by web browsers, making it an ideal choice for web-based applications. MessagePack, while not as widely supported as JSON, offers better performance in terms of serialization and deserialization speed and data compactness. Applications that require high performance and low data size may choose to use MessagePack over JSON.

In summary, JSON and MessagePack are both data interchange formats, but they differ in terms of serialization format, data compactness, data type support, language support, error handling, and compatibility. MessagePack offers more compact data representation, greater data type support, and better performance, but it may have limited language support compared to JSON.

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Advice on JSON, MessagePack

Dhinesh

architect

Jun 16, 2020

Needs adviceon

JSON

Python

Hi. Currently, I have a requirement where I have to create a new JSON file based on the input CSV file, validate the generated JSON file, and upload the JSON file into the application (which runs in AWS) using API. Kindly suggest the best language that can meet the above requirement. I feel Python will be better, but I am not sure with the justification of why python. Can you provide your views on this?

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Comments

Detailed Comparison

JSON	MessagePack
JavaScript Object Notation is a lightweight data-interchange format. It is easy for humans to read and write. It is easy for machines to parse and generate. It is based on a subset of the JavaScript Programming Language.	It is an efficient binary serialization format. It lets you exchange data among multiple languages like JSON. But it's faster and smaller. Small integers are encoded into a single byte, and typical short strings require only one extra byte in addition to the strings themselves.
-	Binary serialization format; Exchange data among multiple languages ; Faster and smaller
Statistics
GitHub Stars -	GitHub Stars 7.3K
GitHub Forks -	GitHub Forks 521
Stacks 2.0K	Stacks 51
Followers 1.6K	Followers 79
Votes 9	Votes 1
Pros & Cons
Pros 5 Simple 4 Widely supported	Pros 1 Lightweight
Integrations
MongoDB PostgreSQL MySQL JavaScript JSON Server JSONlite	Redis Ruby Fluentd Haskell

What are some alternatives to JSON, MessagePack?

JavaScript

JavaScript is most known as the scripting language for Web pages, but used in many non-browser environments as well such as node.js or Apache CouchDB. It is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm scripting language that is dynamic,and supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.

Python

Python is a general purpose programming language created by Guido Van Rossum. Python is most praised for its elegant syntax and readable code, if you are just beginning your programming career python suits you best.

PHP

Fast, flexible and pragmatic, PHP powers everything from your blog to the most popular websites in the world.

Ruby

Ruby is a language of careful balance. Its creator, Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto, blended parts of his favorite languages (Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp) to form a new language that balanced functional programming with imperative programming.

Java

Java is a programming language and computing platform first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. There are lots of applications and websites that will not work unless you have Java installed, and more are created every day. Java is fast, secure, and reliable. From laptops to datacenters, game consoles to scientific supercomputers, cell phones to the Internet, Java is everywhere!

Golang

Go is expressive, concise, clean, and efficient. Its concurrency mechanisms make it easy to write programs that get the most out of multicore and networked machines, while its novel type system enables flexible and modular program construction. Go compiles quickly to machine code yet has the convenience of garbage collection and the power of run-time reflection. It's a fast, statically typed, compiled language that feels like a dynamically typed, interpreted language.

HTML5

HTML5 is a core technology markup language of the Internet used for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web. As of October 2014 this is the final and complete fifth revision of the HTML standard of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The previous version, HTML 4, was standardised in 1997.

C#

C# (pronounced "See Sharp") is a simple, modern, object-oriented, and type-safe programming language. C# has its roots in the C family of languages and will be immediately familiar to C, C++, Java, and JavaScript programmers.

Scala

Scala is an acronym for “Scalable Language”. This means that Scala grows with you. You can play with it by typing one-line expressions and observing the results. But you can also rely on it for large mission critical systems, as many companies, including Twitter, LinkedIn, or Intel do. To some, Scala feels like a scripting language. Its syntax is concise and low ceremony; its types get out of the way because the compiler can infer them.

Elixir

Elixir leverages the Erlang VM, known for running low-latency, distributed and fault-tolerant systems, while also being successfully used in web development and the embedded software domain.

Related Comparisons

JSON vs MessagePack: What are the differences?

Introduction

Serialization Format: JSON is a text-based format, whereas MessagePack is binary-based. JSON uses human-readable text to represent data, which makes it easier for humans to read and write. On the other hand, MessagePack uses binary encoding, which results in more compact data representation and faster serialization and deserialization.
Data Compactness: MessagePack is more compact than JSON, which means that it requires less storage space and results in smaller network payloads. MessagePack achieves this compactness by using binary encoding and omitting unnecessary information, such as field names, which are implied by the data structure.
Data Type Support: JSON supports a limited set of data types, including strings, numbers, booleans, arrays, and objects. MessagePack, on the other hand, supports a wider range of data types, such as integers of different sizes, floating-point numbers, booleans, strings, arrays, maps, and binary data. This increased data type support allows MessagePack to represent complex data structures more accurately.
Language Support: JSON is widely supported in programming languages and has native support in JavaScript. It is also supported in other languages through libraries or APIs. MessagePack also provides support for various programming languages, but the range of libraries and APIs available may be more limited compared to JSON.
Error Handling: JSON includes built-in support for error handling, with well-defined error messages and a clear structure for representing error information. MessagePack, on the other hand, does not have built-in error handling mechanisms. It is up to the application to define how errors are handled when using MessagePack.
Compatibility: JSON is widely used and supported by web browsers, making it an ideal choice for web-based applications. MessagePack, while not as widely supported as JSON, offers better performance in terms of serialization and deserialization speed and data compactness. Applications that require high performance and low data size may choose to use MessagePack over JSON.

JSON vs MessagePack

Overview

JSON vs MessagePack: What are the differences?