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YAML has a couple big advantages (in the proper situations) over JSON. Self-referencing, complex datatypes, and (my personal favorite) embedded block literals.

YAML has a couple big advantages (in the proper situations) over JSON. Self-referencing, complex datatypes, and (my personal favorite) embedded block literals. I've, perhaps unwisely, embedded entire webpages a single indentation level after a variable and retained all of its formatting. I'm no YAML zealot though, I do use JSON most of the time, but in the past couple years I've started writing most of my config files in YAML where I have the opportunity.

hliyan 12y ago
We recently moved much of our application's schema definitions and configurations out of code/JSON and into YAML files (we generate JSON during the build process in placess where it is necessary). A pleasant side effect was that the YAML file set began to double as basic documentation. e.g. name: user plural: users label: User ... primary_key: uid display_key: full_name unique_keys: - username - uid client: storage: type: IndexedDB ... actions: create: label: Save permission: create_user ... server: storage: type: mysql ... api: create_user: url: /users method: post fields: username: name: username label: Username type: string length: 20 required: true editable: false
- nperez 12y ago
  This is very interesting. So is this the equivalent of multiple JSON documents? I'm looking at: http://yaml.org/spec/1.1/#id857577 http://yaml.org/spec/1.1/#id857577 and http://yaml.org/spec/1.1/#stream/information%20model http://yaml.org/spec/1.1/#stream/information%20model I'm actually having a hard time, even with some google-fu, finding information about how this might be used. YAML->json parsers have failed to handle docs with a '...' separating parts of a document so far. Would this triple-dot structure be used to create multiple JS objects? How would I find more information about how this might be used in practice? I have a feeling this would be easier to figure out if I just went and played around with it in practice, but it also seems like something that could be documented in more beginner-friendly terms. I'll probably be kicking myself once I figure it out, but I also only have a cursory understanding of how streams work. Maybe this is an opportunity to fix that. Once I figure it out, I'll respond to this if nobody else has.
  - quesera 12y ago
    I think the GP was using '...' as a standard "stuff removed for brevity" ellipsis. However, since you asked: In a YAML document, there is an implicit top-level object, either a hash/dict/associative array or a list/array depending on your formatting. The '...' separates streams, or top-level objects, within a single file or IO stream. YAML parsers generally stop when they hit the separator, even in languages that can do multiple assignment. If your IO stream behaves like a file handle, you can read it repeatedly into different variables until EOF. Multiple streams in a YAML document are fairly uncommon. I think most people don't know they exist, but I appreciate the flexibility and use it whenever it makes sense.
  - hliyan 12y ago
    Actually the '...' is for parts I've omitted for brevity.

hliyan 12y ago

We recently moved much of our application's schema definitions and configurations out of code/JSON and into YAML files (we generate JSON during the build process in placess where it is necessary). A pleasant side effect was that the YAML file set began to double as basic documentation. e.g. name: user plural: users label: User ... primary_key: uid display_key: full_name unique_keys: - username - uid client: storage: type: IndexedDB ... actions: create: label: Save permission: create_user ... server: storage: type: mysql ... api: create_user: url: /users method: post fields: username: name: username label: Username type: string length: 20 required: true editable: false

nperez 12y ago
This is very interesting. So is this the equivalent of multiple JSON documents? I'm looking at: http://yaml.org/spec/1.1/#id857577 http://yaml.org/spec/1.1/#id857577 and http://yaml.org/spec/1.1/#stream/information%20model http://yaml.org/spec/1.1/#stream/information%20model I'm actually having a hard time, even with some google-fu, finding information about how this might be used. YAML->json parsers have failed to handle docs with a '...' separating parts of a document so far. Would this triple-dot structure be used to create multiple JS objects? How would I find more information about how this might be used in practice? I have a feeling this would be easier to figure out if I just went and played around with it in practice, but it also seems like something that could be documented in more beginner-friendly terms. I'll probably be kicking myself once I figure it out, but I also only have a cursory understanding of how streams work. Maybe this is an opportunity to fix that. Once I figure it out, I'll respond to this if nobody else has.
- quesera 12y ago
  I think the GP was using '...' as a standard "stuff removed for brevity" ellipsis. However, since you asked: In a YAML document, there is an implicit top-level object, either a hash/dict/associative array or a list/array depending on your formatting. The '...' separates streams, or top-level objects, within a single file or IO stream. YAML parsers generally stop when they hit the separator, even in languages that can do multiple assignment. If your IO stream behaves like a file handle, you can read it repeatedly into different variables until EOF. Multiple streams in a YAML document are fairly uncommon. I think most people don't know they exist, but I appreciate the flexibility and use it whenever it makes sense.
- hliyan 12y ago
  Actually the '...' is for parts I've omitted for brevity.