Formats

This section contains the data model definition for super-structured data along with a set of concrete formats that all implement this same data model, providing a unified approach to row, columnar, and human-readable formats:

• Super (SUP) is a human-readable format for super-structured data. All JSON documents are SUP values as the SUP format is a strict superset of the JSON syntax.
• Super Binary (BSUP) is a row-based, binary representation somewhat like Avro but leveraging the super data model to represent a sequence of arbitrarily-typed values.
• Super Columnar (CSUP) is columnar like Parquet, ORC, or Arrow but for super-structured data.
• Super JSON (JSUP) defines a format for encapsulating SUP inside plain JSON for easy decoding by JSON-based clients, e.g., the JavaScript library used by SuperDB Desktop and the SuperDB Python library.

Because all of the formats conform to the same super-structured data model, conversions between a human-readable form, a row-based binary form, and a row-based columnar form can be carried out with no loss of information. This provides the best of both worlds: the same data can be easily expressed in and converted between a human-friendly and easy-to-program text form alongside efficient row and columnar formats.