How Bref Differs from JSON

When dealing with datasets that contain heavily repetitive structures, JSON can quickly become inefficient.

Issues arising from repetitive keys in JSON:

😩 Excessive file size: Keys are repeated for every object, increasing the payload size dramatically.

😞 Slower parsing: The parser must read the same key strings over and over again.

🥺 Higher memory usage: More characters mean more memory to store and process.

Bref provides a structure that can solve all these problems. To give you an idea, let’s look at a simple data comparison.

JSON:


[
  {
    "title": "Bohemian Rhapsody",
    "duration": "5:55",
    "genre": "Rock",
    "album": {
      "title": "A Night at the Opera",
      "year": 1975,
      "band": {
        "name": "Queen",
        "country": "UK"
      }
    },
    "streams": 1980000000,
    "is_favorite": true
  },
  {
    "title": "Smells Like Teen Spirit",
    "duration": "5:01",
    "genre": "Alternative Rock",
    "album": {
      "title": "Nevermind",
      "year": 1991,
      "band": {
        "name": "Nirvana",
        "country": "USA"
      }
    },
    "streams": 1750000000,
    "is_favorite": true
  },
  {
    "title": "Hotel California",
    "duration": "6:30",
    "genre": "Rock",
    "album": {
      "title": "Hotel California",
      "year": 1976,
      "band": {
        "name": "Eagles",
        "country": "USA"
      }
    },
    "streams": 1640000000,
    "is_favorite": false
  },
  {
    "title": "Wonderwall",
    "duration": "4:18",
    "genre": "Alternative Rock",
    "album": {
      "title": "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?",
      "year": 1995,
      "band": {
        "name": "Oasis",
        "country": "UK"
      }
    },
    "streams": 1430000000,
    "is_favorite": true
  }
]

Bref:


:artist { name, country }
:album { title, year, artist:artist }
:song { title, duration, genre, album:album, streams, is_favorite }
 
[
  {
  	"Bohemian Rhapsody", "5:55", "Rock",
    { "A Night at the Opera", 1975, { "Queen", "UK" } },
    1980000000, true
  },
  {
  	"Smells Like Teen Spirit", "5:01", "Alternative Rock",
    { "Nevermind", 1991, { "Nirvana", "USA" } },
    1750000000, true
  },
  {
  	"Hotel California", "6:30", "Rock",
    { "Hotel California", 1976, { "Eagles", "USA" } },
    1640000000, false
  },
  {
  	"Wonderwall", "4:18", "Alternative Rock",
    { "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?", 1995, { "Oasis", "UK" } },
    1430000000, true
  }
]: song