Why Internet Object?

Why choose Internet Object over JSON, CSV, YAML, and binary formats.

Internet Object is a text-based, schema-first data format for interchange over the internet. It keeps JSON's readability while removing its biggest costs: repeated keys, no schema, no comments, and no native streaming.

The core idea

The same data, in JSON and in IO:

[
  { "name": "John Doe", "age": 30, "email": "[email protected]", "active": true },
  { "name": "Jane Doe", "age": 25, "email": "[email protected]", "active": false }
]

~ $schema: { name: string, age: int, email: email, active: bool }
---
~ John Doe, 30, [e-mail], T
~ Jane Doe, 25, [e-mail], F

The keys are stated once in the schema, so each record carries only its values. For collections of similar objects this is dramatically smaller — closer to CSV's density, but with types, nesting, and validation.

How it compares

Need	JSON	CSV	YAML	Internet Object
Human-readable	✓	✓	✓	✓
No repeated keys	✗	✓	✗	✓
Built-in schema & validation	✗	✗	✗	✓
Nested / structured data	✓	✗	✓	✓
Comments	✗	✗	✓	✓
Streaming of records	✗	✓	✗	✓
Precise numerics (bigint, decimal)	✗	✗	✗	✓
Dates/times & binary as first-class	✗	✗	partial	✓

What you gain

• Smaller payloads — keys live in the schema, not in every record.

• Validation built in — types and constraints travel with the data; bad values are reported with precise errors.

• Comments — annotate documents inline with #.

• Collections & streaming — emit and consume records one at a time.

• Richer types — int/uint/decimal/bigint, date/time/datetime, binary, and reusable named types.

• JSON-compatible where it counts — quoted-key object syntax is accepted, easing migration. See JSON Compatibility.

When JSON is still fine

For one-off, schema-less, small payloads — or where ubiquitous tooling matters most — JSON is perfectly adequate. Internet Object pays off when you have many similar records, want validation, or care about size and streaming.

See Also

• Getting Started · Objectives

• JSON Compatibility