Is parsing JSON faster than parsing XML

Question

I\'m creating a sophisticated JavaScript library for working with my company\'s server side framework.

The server side framework encodes its data to a simple XML for

Answer 1

It also depends on how your JSON is structured. Tree-like structures tend to parse more efficiently than a list of objects. This is where one's fundamental understanding of data structures will be handy. I would not be surprised if you parse a list-like structure in JSON that might look like this:

{
        {
            "name": "New York",
            "country":"USA",
            "lon": -73.948753,
            "lat": 40.712784
        },
        {
            "name": "Chicago",
            "country":"USA",
            "lon": -23.948753,
            "lat": 20.712784
        },
        {
            "name": "London",
            "country":"UK",
            "lon": -13.948753,
            "lat": 10.712784
        }
}

and then compare it to a tree like structure in XML that might look like this:

  
     
        -73.948753
        40.712784
     
     
        -23.948753
        20.712784
     
  
 
     
        -13.948753
        10.712784
     
  

The XML structure may yield a faster time than that of JSON since if I loop through the node of UK to find London, I don't have to loop through the rest of the countries to find my city. In the JSON example, I just might if London is near the bottom of the list. But, what we have here is a difference in structure. I would be surprised to find that XML is faster in either case or in a case where the structures are exactly the same.

Here is an experiment I did using Python - I know the question is looking at this strictly from a JavaScript perspective, but you might find it useful. The results show that JSON is faster than XML. However, the point is: how you structure is going to have an effect on how efficiently you are able to retrieve it.