Data Storage: JSON vs. CSV

Now more than ever, companies rely on data to reach their business goals. With the ever-expanding data landscape, understanding data storage is necessary for professionals working in data-driven businesses. Finance and investment decisions are overwhelmingly guided by data; however, not all data comes in the same format. There are many benefits to harnessing the different data storage formats and using each one in ways that will maximize their respective properties. 

For instance, investment analysts utilize alternative data, which often comes in many different formats, to begin with. Additionally, datasets used by analysts, developers, and investors alike are usually massive in scale. On the other hand, datasets used internally or for specific projects may be much smaller and may not require complex syntax. 

Choosing the right data storage format for your business needs is a paramount decision. The good news is that there are many useful, standardized formats to choose from. The standardization of data formats is important because it allows easy data parsing. While there are three main standardized data exchange formats to choose from, JSON,  CSV, and XML, understanding the benefits and shortcomings of each will provide clarity on which format works best for you. This article will compare JSON and CSV, provide explanations of both formats, and touch upon the XML format. 

What is JSON?

JSON is a data exchange format that stands for JavaScript Object Notation. JSON is known as a light-weight format type and is favored for its readability and nesting features. It is often used in conjunction with APIs and data configuration. More specifically, JSON is preferred for API use, which prioritizes file size due to its lightweight feature. JSON is also praised for its ability to be easily converted into other formats. JSON conversion tools are quite common, and there are many free JSON to CSV format conversion tools out there.

Additionally, because JSON is derived from the commonly used JavaScript programming language, it can be easily integrated into front-end and back-end development. JSON files (.json), unlike CSV, which will be discussed later on, have immense nesting and hierarchy features due to its syntax. To further illustrate this, let’s take a look at the data types (elements) that JSON supports. 

JSON data types

Here are some of the data types that JSON uses include:  

• Strings: “Blue” “Lukas” “Orange Juice”
• A string is a sequence of characters that can be a constant or a variable. Strings in complex computer languages and data storage types are usually words. 
• Numbers: “55” “-2.5” “3.5e10”
• A number in a string of JSON data can exist as an integer, decimal number, negative number, or even scientific notation numbers. 
• Booleans: “True” “False”
• A boolean represents data whose value exists as true or false. 
• Null: “null”
• Null is another term for “nothing” and communicates that an input has no value. 
• Array: [55,56,57] [“Blue”, “Purple”, “Green”] 
• Arrays are lists that can include any of the above-mentioned types as well as objects (below).  
• Objects: {“key”: “value”} {“name”: “Lukas”}
• Objects are the most commonly used data types, and allow you to represent values that are key-value pairs. You can assign data a key and a value, where the value can be any of the above-mentioned data types (string, number, null, etc.).  

What does JSON look like?

Now that we know the elements that JSON supports, let’s look at data represented in the JSON format. For consistency, we will look at JSON, CSV, and XML with the same sample data. This sample data will be for some company “X” with two employees - Jane and Lukas. 

{“name”:”Jane”,”jobTitle”:”Analyst”}

{“name”:”Lukas”,”jobTitle”:”Developer”}

And now, let’s continue to CSV. First, let’s see how CSV compares to JSON.