Description:
What actually changes when you save the same data as CSV, JSON, or Parquet? And why can’t you convert a file by renaming it?
In this pencil-style explainer, we follow three orders from a small online shop to see how different formats store the same information. We start with bytes, rows, fields, and schemas, then look at what each format is good for. You’ll see why CSV works for sharing a plain table, what an Excel workbook can keep that a CSV can’t, how JSON represents an order with a delivery address and a list of items, and how Parquet lets you read just the column you need.
If you’re new to data analysis or data engineering, this will help you choose a format based on the job and the tools that need to read it.
Subscribe to The Data Signal for more visual explainers on data and AI.
Chapters
00:00 What is a file format?
01:09 Tables and spreadsheets — CSV and Excel
03:36 Data for apps and APIs — JSON and XML
05:23 Event pipelines and schemas — Avro
07:03 Files for analytics — Parquet and ORC
08:24 How to choose the right format
Share this link via
Or copy link