Comparison of data formats supported

[chenyong]

Currently serve-json supports 4 formats of data files: edn json cirru cson.

• .cirru - Cirru EDN

Cirru is my favorite one. It looks clean and has 1016 chars(including spaces).

{}
  :port 7800
  :routes $ []
    {}
      :path |home
      :get $ {} (:type :file) (:file |home.json)
    {}
      :path |plants/:plant-id
      :get $ {} (:type :file) (:file |plant-default.json)
      :post $ {} (:type :file) (:file |ok.json)
      :next $ []
        {}
          :path |overview
          :get $ {} (:type :file) (:file |overview.json)
        {}
          :path |materials/:material-id
          :get $ {} (:type :file) (:file |materials.json)
          :next $ []
            {}
              :path |events
              :get $ {} (:type :file) (:file |events.json)
              :delete $ {} (:code 202) (:type :file) (:file |ok.json)
    {}
      :path |notifications/me
      :next $ []
        {}
          :path |messages
          :get $ {} (:type :file) (:file |messages.json)
        {}
          :path |messages:latestUnread
          :get $ {} (:type :file) (:file |unread-mesages.json)
    {}
      :path |user/settings/preferences
      :put $ {} (:type :file) (:file |ok.json)

• EDN

EDN is the default data used in ClojureScript. It has 1053 chars and looks really compact.

But people feel bored in getting colons aligned to the previous ones.

{:port 7800,
 :routes [{:path "home", :get {:type :file, :file "home.json"}}
          {:path "plants/:plant-id",
           :get {:type :file, :file "plant-default.json"},
           :post {:type :file, :file "ok.json"},
           :next [{:path "overview",
                   :get {:type :file, :file "overview.json"}}
                  {:path "materials/:material-id",
                   :get {:type :file, :file "materials.json"},
                   :next [{:path "events",
                           :get {:type :file, :file "events.json"},
                           :delete {:code 202,
                                    :type :file,
                                    :file "ok.json"}}]}]}
          {:path "notifications/me",
           :next [{:path "messages",
                   :get {:type :file, :file "messages.json"}}
                  {:path "messages:latestUnread",
                   :get {:type :file, :file "unread-mesages.json"}}]}
          {:path "user/settings/preferences",
           :put {:type :file, :file "ok.json"}}]}

So there another EDN(Flavored EDN) indented like JSON, it's also neat, but containing more lines since { and } are used:

{
  :port 7800
  :routes [
    {
      :path "home"
      :get {:type :file, :file "home.json"}
    }
    {
      :path "plants/:plant-id"
      :get {:type :file, :file "plant-default.json"}
      :post {:type :file, :file "ok.json"}
      :next [
        {
          :path "overview"
          :get {:type :file, :file "overview.json"}
        }
        {
          :path "materials/:material-id"
          :get {:type :file, :file "materials.json"}
          :next [
            {
              :path "events"
              :get {:type :file, :file "events.json"}
              :delete {:code 202, :type :file, :file "ok.json"}
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
    {
      :path "notifications/me"
      :next [
        {
          :path "messages"
          :get {:type :file, :file "messages.json"}
        }
        {
          :path "messages:latestUnread"
          :get {:type :file, :file "unread-mesages.json"}
        }
      ]
    }
    {
      :path "user/settings/preferences"
      :put {:type :file, :file "ok.json"}
    }
  ]
}

• JSON

Then comes JSON, it's like Flavored EDN but with more quotes and commas, not good for writing:

{
  "port": 7800,
  "routes": [
    {
      "path": "home",
      "get": {
        "type": "file",
        "file": "home.json"
      }
    },
    {
      "path": "plants/:plant-id",
      "get": {
        "type": "file",
        "file": "plant-default.json"
      },
      "post": {
        "type": "file",
        "file": "ok.json"
      },
      "next": [
        {
          "path": "overview",
          "get": {
            "type": "file",
            "file": "overview.json"
          }
        },
        {
          "path": "materials/:material-id",
          "get": {
            "type": "file",
            "file": "materials.json"
          },
          "next": [
            {
              "path": "events",
              "get": {
                "type": "file",
                "file": "events.json"
              },
              "delete": {
                "code": 202,
                "type": "file",
                "file": "ok.json"
              }
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "path": "notifications/me",
      "next": [
        {
          "path": "messages",
          "get": {
            "type": "file",
            "file": "messages.json"
          }
        },
        {
          "path": "messages:latestUnread",
          "get": {
            "type": "file",
            "file": "unread-mesages.json"
          }
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "path": "user/settings/preferences",
      "put": {
        "type": "file",
        "file": "ok.json"
      }
    }
  ]
}

• CSON(CoffeeScript JSON)

CSON is much more neat than any of above. It's in 783 chars, really sharp.

port: 7800
routes: [
  path: 'home'
  get: type: 'file', file: 'home.json'
,
  path: 'plants/:plant-id'
  get:
    type: 'file'
    file: 'plant-default.json'
  post: type: 'file', file: 'ok.json'
  next: [
    path: 'overview'
    get: type: 'file', file: 'overview.json'
  ,
    path: 'materials/:material-id'
    get: type: 'file', file: 'materials.json'
    next: [
        path: 'events'
        get: type: 'file', file: 'events.json'
        delete: code: 202, type: 'file', file: 'ok.json'
    ]
  ]
,
  path: 'notifications/me'
  next: [
    path: 'messages'
    get: type: 'file', file: 'messages.json'
  ,
    path: 'messages:latestUnread'
    get: type: 'file', file: 'unread-mesages.json'
  ]
,
  path: 'user/settings/preferences'
  put: type: 'file', file: 'ok.json'
]

Personally I like Cirru since it contains no long [ ... ] or { ... }, which is quite fluent for handwriting, no need to balance brackets.

Flavored EDN would be just fine for people familiar with JSON but want fewer chars. CSON would be great for indentation enthusiasts.

[chenyong]

Who's the boss! 518 chars:

---
port: 7800
routes:
- path: home
  get:
    type: file
    file: home.json
- path: plants/:plant-id
  get:
    type: file
    file: plant-default.json
  post:
    type: file
    file: ok.json
  next:
  - path: overview
    get:
      type: file
      file: overview.json
  - path: materials/:material-id
    get:
      type: file
      file: materials.json
    next:
    - path: events
      get:
        type: file
        file: events.json
      delete:
        code: 202
        type: file
        file: ok.json

Just added support.