Regular Expressions: A Complete Beginner's Guide
17 Feb 2026
Developers and analysts constantly face the need to convert data between formats. An API returns JSON, but Excel requires CSV. An old system exports XML, while a new one expects JSON. Let's explore each format and conversion methods.
JSON β the King of APIs
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is the de facto standard for REST APIs and configuration files.
Advantages:
- Human and machine-readable
- Supports nested structures and arrays
- Native support in JavaScript, Python, PHP
When to use: API responses, configuration files, NoSQL databases (MongoDB).
CSV β Simplicity and Excel
CSV (Comma-Separated Values) is the simplest format for tabular data.
Advantages:
- Opens in Excel and Google Sheets
- Minimal file size
- Supported by all databases for import/export
When to use: reports, product lists, analytical data, data migration.
XML β the Corporate Software Standard
XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is widely used in corporate systems and configurations.
Advantages:
- Supports attributes and namespaces
- Validation schema (XSD)
- Standard for SOAP API, RSS, office formats (DOCX, XLSX)
When to use: XML sitemaps, Maven/Gradle configuration, RSS feeds.
How to Convert Formats on Xuvero
JSON β CSV
Use the JSON Formatter for formatting and validating JSON before conversion. Then, use a specialized converter to convert to CSV.
Formatting JSON
JSON Formatter will help:
- Format minified JSON
- Find syntax errors
- Minimize JSON for production
Tips for Working with Formats
- Always validate JSON before sending it to an API β JSON Formatter will show errors
- Consider encoding when working with CSV (UTF-8 vs Windows-1251) β especially relevant for Cyrillic
- XML is case-sensitive:
<Name>and<name>are different elements - Use Base64 to transfer binary data within JSON or XML
Summary
The choice of format depends on the context: JSON for APIs, CSV for tables, XML for corporate standards. Xuvero provides all the necessary tools to work with these formats for free.
