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A custom binary schema language shrinks JSON payloads by 80%

hereticpleb.vercel.app 25 min read Editor score 7/10

The author builds a binary format and schema language, including a lexer, parser, semantic analyzer, and code generation, and reports 80% smaller JSON payloads. The implementation offers practical material on serialization trade-offs and compiler construction.

What: jBin is a custom binary schema language designed to pack data more compactly than JSON.
How: Its format uses type and length metadata to distinguish values and let a decoder locate payload data.
Why it matters: The claimed 80% smaller JSON payloads could reduce storage and transfer costs in data-heavy systems.

The binary representation places type and length metadata before the data payload. Sketched from the article's own text.

Read on hereticpleb.vercel.app → Hacker News · 16 comments

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