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CSV to XML & JSON Converter

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The best & free online CSV to XML & JSON converter converts the CSV string into the XML string and JSON string format.

Please copy and paste the CSV data, or upload the CSV file to convert it into an XML file format or JSON file format.

CSV vs XML vs JSON

Several data representation tools have been built until today to deliver the best data transfer and use less network bandwidth in that process.

Whether you are making a single-page website or an extensive website, at some point, you need to connect with the server and need a suitable data format for responses.

Three formats are used the majority of times to transfer the data from the server to the client. CSV, XML and JSON.

Before developing any web architecture, it is better to understand these three, the difference between them, and when to use them.

CSV

CSV stands for comma-separated values file. As the name implies, it is a delimited text file in which commas separate a list of elements. In the CSV file, each line contains the data record, and the data contains the fields separated by commas. So in simple words, CSV is a comma-separated values file that stores the tabular data in plain text format.

The CSV file contains the .csv extension and is compatible with most spreadsheets programs, like Microsoft Excel or Google Spreadsheets.

It occupies less space, almost half of the room, than XML and JSON. That results in less consumption of bandwidth resources. Therefore, the CSV format is the most compact of all three formats.

As it converts the tabular data into plain text format, it is used in various ways. Most companies export their high-volume data into a more robust database, such as customers' or orders data, to and from their database.

The CSV file format separates the elements with commas. But that situation becomes difficult to handle when the fields also contain commas or embedded line breaks. Here, they use quotation marks to cover that field. But the situation becomes even worst when some fields may need embedded quotation marks. Thus, the implementation of the CSV requires CSV Escape/Unescape.

Another problem with that file format is that it does not support the hierarchical structure and is less versatile than XML and JSON. It would be best to have a homemade parser to convert the CSV data into a native data structure. Moreover, the program that creates the CSV format and the machine that parser the CSV resides in separate locations. Both programs must be updated if the data structure changes simultaneously to prevent the receiving program from malfunctioning.

XML

XML stands for Extensible Markup Language. It is a text-based markup language derived from Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML). XML was designed in 1996 and became a W3C standard in 1998.

It is considered a traditional medium to store and transfer data on the internet. It provides the data in an understandable format for both humans and machines.

In XML, the tags are not predefined. You can use the customs tags to store and transfer the data. Unlike HTML, where the tags are predefined, and that language is used to display the data. XML works in the opposite way. XML is not used to display the data; it is used to store, structure, and transfer the web data.

One benefit that XML has, that it supports the hierarchical data structure and is very appropriate when receiving the data response. As it is traditionally used as the medium to store and transfer the data, most browsers have built-in XML readers that allow you to inspect XML files. And most APIs have built-in functions to convert XML data streams into native data structures.

But one drawback is that it occupies more space, almost three times as large as a CSV file. That results in a lot of network bandwidth consumption while transferring a small amount of data.

JSON

Even though XML is traditionally used as the medium to store and transfer the data, and most browsers have built-in XML readers that allow you to inspect XML files. But due to bulky tags, attributes, namespaces, schemas, etc. It consumes more network bandwidth while transferring a small amount of data. Therefore, people are still looking for an alternative. And that alternative is JSON.

JSON stands for "JavaScript Object Notation," and was invented in 2001 and became popularized by Yahoo and Google in 2005 and 2006. The text is written in JS object notation for sorting and transmitting the data and converting it into a human-readable format.

It supports the hierarchical data structure and uses commas, curly braces, and brackets to represent the data.

JSON uses the JS language standards only, and it does not require JS codes for reading or writing. Therefore, it is an independent language. And most of the APIs and web services are using the JSON format to provide public data.

When we transfer the data between the browser and the server, the data should be in the text. And JSON is text. You can easily convert the JS object into JSON by using JSON.stringify () function and send it to the server, and the result that you received in JSON form can easily be converted to JS object by using JSON.parse() function.

However, to confirm that your JSON structure is according to the standards provided by JavaScript-oriented notation or not. You must validate your JSON code. And it's always better to minify or beautify JSON code as per your requirements.

Even though that data format has less support than XML, things are rapidly changing because newer APIs and plugins support both XML and JSON.

How to use the best & free online CSV to XML and JSON converter?

As we discussed earlier, XML is traditionally used to store and transfer the data, and JSON is currently the most popular way to store and share the data on the web. And most of the APIs are supporting the XML and JSON data format. Therefore, CSV to XML or JSON conversion becomes essential.

To do this, do the following steps.

  • Open the best & free online CSV to XML and JSON converter.
  • You can either copy-paste the CSV data, use the "Load from the URL" option, or use the "Browse" option to upload the CSV file.
  • After uploading the CSV data, click on the "Convert to XML" button to convert the CSV file format into the XML file format.
  • On the other hand, click on the "Convert to JSON" button to convert the CSV file format into the JSON file format.
  • You can get the CSV data in XML or JSON form in the "Result" section as per your above-taken action.
  • Please copy the code, and paste it into the desired location.

Do we keep a copy of your source code?

Protecting user trust is our top priority. We do not keep a copy of the source that the user input into CSV to XML and JSON conversion.

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