Skip to content
geeksforgeeks
  • Courses
    • DSA to Development
    • Get IBM Certification
    • Newly Launched!
      • Master Django Framework
      • Become AWS Certified
    • For Working Professionals
      • Interview 101: DSA & System Design
      • Data Science Training Program
      • JAVA Backend Development (Live)
      • DevOps Engineering (LIVE)
      • Data Structures & Algorithms in Python
    • For Students
      • Placement Preparation Course
      • Data Science (Live)
      • Data Structure & Algorithm-Self Paced (C++/JAVA)
      • Master Competitive Programming (Live)
      • Full Stack Development with React & Node JS (Live)
    • Full Stack Development
    • Data Science Program
    • All Courses
  • Tutorials
    • Data Structures & Algorithms
    • ML & Data Science
    • Interview Corner
    • Programming Languages
    • Web Development
    • CS Subjects
    • DevOps And Linux
    • School Learning
  • Practice
    • Build your AI Agent
    • GfG 160
    • Problem of the Day
    • Practice Coding Problems
    • GfG SDE Sheet
  • Contests
    • Accenture Hackathon (Ending Soon!)
    • GfG Weekly [Rated Contest]
    • Job-A-Thon Hiring Challenge
    • All Contests and Events
  • HTML Tutorial
  • HTML Exercises
  • HTML Tags
  • HTML Attributes
  • Global Attributes
  • Event Attributes
  • HTML Interview Questions
  • HTML DOM
  • DOM Audio/Video
  • HTML 5
  • HTML Examples
  • Color Picker
  • A to Z Guide
  • HTML Formatter
Open In App
Next Article:
Difference Between JSON and AJAX
Next article icon

Difference Between JSON and XML

Last Updated : 02 Dec, 2024
Comments
Improve
Suggest changes
Like Article
Like
Report

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) and XML (Extensible Markup Language) are both formats used for structuring and exchanging data. JSON uses Key Value Structure and XML uses Tag based Structure to make platform independent formats.

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation)

JSON has a straightforward syntax with key-value pairs, making it easy to read and write for humans. JSON is lightweight compared to XML, resulting in faster parsing and smaller data payloads.

JavaScript
{"Geeks":[      { "firstName":"Vivek", "lastName":"Kothari" },      { "firstName":"Suraj", "lastName":"Kumar" },      { "firstName":"John", "lastName":"Smith" },      { "firstName":"Peter", "lastName":"Gregory" }  ]}  

XML (Extensible Markup Language)

XML is highly extensible, allowing developers to define custom tags and structures suited to specific needs. Strong support for XML Schema Definition (XSD), enabling rigorous validation and data integrity checks.

XML
<Geeks>      <Geek>          <firstName>Vivek</firstName> <lastName>Kothari</lastName>      </Geek>      <Geek>          <firstName>Suraj</firstName> <lastName>Kumar</lastName>      </Geek>      <Geek>          <firstName>John</firstName> <lastName>Smith</lastName>      </Geek>      <Geek>          <firstName>Peter</firstName> <lastName>Gregory</lastName>      </Geek>  </Geeks>  

Difference Between JSON and XML

JSONXML
It is JavaScript Object NotationIt is Extensible markup language
It is based on JavaScript language.It is derived from SGML.
It is a way of representing objects.It is a markup language and uses tag structure to represent data items.
It does not provides any support for namespaces.It supports namespaces.
It supports array.It doesn’t supports array.
Its files are very easy to read as compared to XML.Its documents are comparatively difficult to read and interpret.
It doesn’t use end tag.It has start and end tags.
It is less secured.It is more secured than JSON.
It doesn’t supports comments.It supports comments.
It supports only UTF-8 encoding.It supports various encoding.

When to Use JSON vs XML

Use JSON when:

  • Efficiency and simplicity are priorities.
  • You’re building modern web applications or APIs.

Use XML when:

  • You need robust validation or extensibility.
  • Working with legacy systems or document-based workflows.


Next Article
Difference Between JSON and AJAX

V

vivekkothari
Improve
Article Tags :
  • HTML
  • HTML and XML
  • JavaScript-Misc
  • JavaScript-Questions
  • JSON
  • Web Technologies - Difference Between

Similar Reads

  • Difference Between YAML and JSON
    YAML and JSON are data serialization formats. YAML is human-readable, uses indentation, supports comments, and is ideal for configuration files. JSON is compact, machine-readable, lacks comment support, and is commonly used in APIs and data exchange. YAMLYAML is a light-weight, human-readable data-r
    2 min read
  • Difference Between JSON and AJAX
    AJAXAjax is an acronym for Asynchronous Javascript and XML. It is used to communicate with the server without refreshing the web page and thus increasing the user experience and better performance. There are two types of requests synchronous as well as asynchronous. Synchronous requests are the one
    5 min read
  • Difference Between JSON and BSON
    When working with data in modern web applications, understanding the formats used for data exchange and storage is crucial. Two widely used formats are JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) and BSON (Binary JSON). Although they serve similar functions, they have distinct features and are used in differe
    5 min read
  • Difference between HTML and WML
    1. Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) : Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) refers to the standard markup language to create web pages. It consists of series of elements/tags which are used to define structure of your content means design the structure of a web page. It was created to serve content to
    2 min read
  • Difference between XHTML and HTML5
    XHTML is an older, stricter version of HTML that follows XML rules. HTML5 is the latest and more flexible version, bringing in new features for better multimedia and web applications. HTML5 is simpler to use, while XHTML demands strict adherence to XML standards. Table of Content XHTMLHTML5Similarit
    4 min read
  • Difference Between HTML and SGML
    Most of us are familiar with HTML due to its connection to the World Wide Web. It drives the internet, allowing us to build and use websites, share material, and communicate with online services. HTML is only one branch of a much broader tree called SGML, which serves as the basis for several markup
    5 min read
  • Difference between JSP and HTML
    1. Java Server Pages (JSP) : JSP stands for Java Server Pages. These files have the extension. jsp. The main advantage of JSP is that the programmer can insert Java code inside HTML. There are JSP tags to insert Java code. The programmer can write the tag at the end of the Java code. There are diffe
    3 min read
  • Difference between HTML and HTML5
    HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. It is used to design web pages using a markup language. HTML is a combination of Hypertext and Markup language. Hypertext defines the link between the web pages. A markup language is used to define the text document within the tag which defines the structu
    4 min read
  • Difference between XQuery and XSLT
    XQuery: XQuery is the language for querying XML data. It is used to access information stored in XML format. It is used for fetching the information from a database that is to be used in Web services like SoapUI, receiving data from a database that is to be used with application integration, generat
    2 min read
  • Difference Between HTML, XML and DHTML
    1. HTML HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language.Used to design the layout of a document and to specify the hyperlinks.Tells the browser how to display text, pictures, and other support media.Support multimedia and new page layout features.Easy to integrate with other programming languages.HTML con
    2 min read
geeksforgeeks-footer-logo
Corporate & Communications Address:
A-143, 7th Floor, Sovereign Corporate Tower, Sector- 136, Noida, Uttar Pradesh (201305)
Registered Address:
K 061, Tower K, Gulshan Vivante Apartment, Sector 137, Noida, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, 201305
GFG App on Play Store GFG App on App Store
Advertise with us
  • Company
  • About Us
  • Legal
  • Privacy Policy
  • In Media
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise with us
  • GFG Corporate Solution
  • Placement Training Program
  • Languages
  • Python
  • Java
  • C++
  • PHP
  • GoLang
  • SQL
  • R Language
  • Android Tutorial
  • Tutorials Archive
  • DSA
  • Data Structures
  • Algorithms
  • DSA for Beginners
  • Basic DSA Problems
  • DSA Roadmap
  • Top 100 DSA Interview Problems
  • DSA Roadmap by Sandeep Jain
  • All Cheat Sheets
  • Data Science & ML
  • Data Science With Python
  • Data Science For Beginner
  • Machine Learning
  • ML Maths
  • Data Visualisation
  • Pandas
  • NumPy
  • NLP
  • Deep Learning
  • Web Technologies
  • HTML
  • CSS
  • JavaScript
  • TypeScript
  • ReactJS
  • NextJS
  • Bootstrap
  • Web Design
  • Python Tutorial
  • Python Programming Examples
  • Python Projects
  • Python Tkinter
  • Python Web Scraping
  • OpenCV Tutorial
  • Python Interview Question
  • Django
  • Computer Science
  • Operating Systems
  • Computer Network
  • Database Management System
  • Software Engineering
  • Digital Logic Design
  • Engineering Maths
  • Software Development
  • Software Testing
  • DevOps
  • Git
  • Linux
  • AWS
  • Docker
  • Kubernetes
  • Azure
  • GCP
  • DevOps Roadmap
  • System Design
  • High Level Design
  • Low Level Design
  • UML Diagrams
  • Interview Guide
  • Design Patterns
  • OOAD
  • System Design Bootcamp
  • Interview Questions
  • Inteview Preparation
  • Competitive Programming
  • Top DS or Algo for CP
  • Company-Wise Recruitment Process
  • Company-Wise Preparation
  • Aptitude Preparation
  • Puzzles
  • School Subjects
  • Mathematics
  • Physics
  • Chemistry
  • Biology
  • Social Science
  • English Grammar
  • Commerce
  • World GK
  • GeeksforGeeks Videos
  • DSA
  • Python
  • Java
  • C++
  • Web Development
  • Data Science
  • CS Subjects
@GeeksforGeeks, Sanchhaya Education Private Limited, All rights reserved
We use cookies to ensure you have the best browsing experience on our website. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Cookie Policy & Privacy Policy
Lightbox
Improvement
Suggest Changes
Help us improve. Share your suggestions to enhance the article. Contribute your expertise and make a difference in the GeeksforGeeks portal.
geeksforgeeks-suggest-icon
Create Improvement
Enhance the article with your expertise. Contribute to the GeeksforGeeks community and help create better learning resources for all.
geeksforgeeks-improvement-icon
Suggest Changes
min 4 words, max Words Limit:1000

Thank You!

Your suggestions are valuable to us.

What kind of Experience do you want to share?

Interview Experiences
Admission Experiences
Career Journeys
Work Experiences
Campus Experiences
Competitive Exam Experiences