Avro is NOT JSON-based. It is one of the most efficient binary encodings around.
Avro uses JSON as a concrete syntax for the schema and it supports a JSON based alternative serialization format, but the primary format is a very well done binary format. The great virtue of Avro over Writables is that Avro is polyglot, Writables are limited to Java. Moreover, you don't actually need to have the schema handy, nor generate any code to read Avro files. This means that you can write basic scripts to munch on files without much information about the contents. You can even see what fields are available and get information about their types. Avro is roughly equivalent to proto-bufs, but has a few additional capabilities: - no code generation required - data knows its own schema and will interoperate with any other compatible schema - data reflection allows you to inspect and reverse engineer data - a native RPC mechanism is provided. On Sat, May 28, 2011 at 4:13 PM, Sean Owen <[email protected]> wrote: > Avro is JSON-based and that just seems far too verbose for these purposes. >
