Pros: Highly flexible and hierarchical, Native to web development and widely used in APIs for data exchange. Excellent for representing rich contact data with various attributes and sub-attributes.
Cons: Not as intuitively readable for non-technical users as CSV or vCard when viewed raw.
Use Cases: Web applications, mobile apps, API integrations, cloud-based contact management systems.
XML (Extensible Markup Language):
Description: A markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. Similar to JSON in its ability to represent hierarchical data.
Pros: Highly extensible, allowing for custom tags and schemas sri lanka phone number list to define specific data structures. Well-suited for complex data exchange scenarios where strict validation is required.
Cons: Verbose and can be more cumbersome to parse and generate than JSON for simple data.
Use Cases: Enterprise applications, data warehousing, complex integrations where data integrity and validation are paramount.
Database Formats (e.g., SQL, NoSQL):
Description: While not a "file format" in the same sense as CSV or vCard, relational databases (like MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server) and NoSQL databases (like MongoDB, Cassandra) are the underlying structures for most sophisticated contact management systems (CRMs, ERPs). Data is stored in tables (relational) or collections (NoSQL) with defined schemas.
Pros: Optimized for large datasets, complex queries, data integrity, security, and concurrent access.
Cons: Requires dedicated database management systems and specialized knowledge to manage.