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YAML: YAML Ain't Markup Language or Yet Another Markup

Language

What It Is YAML:

YAML is a human-friendly data serialization language for all programming

languages.

YAML is a data serialization language for storing information in

a human-readable form.

It is similar to XML and JSON files but uses a more minimalist syntax
YAML is commonly used to create configuration files. Widely used
in development & In DevOps tools like Ansible, Docker,
Kubernetes, Gitlab, Azure DevOps etc.

Advantages of YAML
 Lightweight
 It is very easy and simple for represent complex mapping
 Human friendly readable and writable
 Simple to modify with any text editor
 Suitable for configuration settings
 Support for major programming languages

Readable syntax
YAML files use an indentation to show the structure of your data. You’re
required to use spaces to create indentation rather than tabs to avoid
confusion or errors.

No executable commands

As a data-representation format, YAML does not contain executables. It’s

therefore very safe to exchange YAML files with external parties.

YAML must be integrated or use with other languages, like Python, Go

or Java, to add executables.

Built-in commenting

YAML allows you to add comments to files using the hash symbol (#)
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YAML Syntax

YAML has a few basic concepts that make up(represent or define) the
majority of data.

Key-value pairs

<key>: <value>

In general, most things in a YAML file are a form of key-value pair where
the key represents the pair’s name and the value represents the data linked
to that name. Key-value pairs are the basis for all other YAML
constructions.

Scalars and mapping

Scalars represent a single stored value. Scalars are assigned to key names
using mapping. You define a mapping with a name, colon, and space, then a
value for it to hold.

YAML supports common types like integer and floating-point numeric

values, as well as non-numeric types Boolean and String.

name: “Mithun” # Sting data

age: 35 # Integer data
salary: 152000.65 # Float values
isWorking: true. # Boolean values true or false yes or no

Numbers

YAML supports integers, floating numbers, and exponential floating numbers.

integer: 123
float: 123.123
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Booleans

In YAML, we can represent the boolean value True and False in three
different ways. Look at them.

 The values True, On, and Yes are considered as True in YAML.
 The values False, Off, and No are considered as False in YAML.

employed: true
contractor: false

String

Strings are a collection of characters that represent a sentence or phrase.

You either use | to print each string as a new line or > to print it as a
paragraph.

Strings in YAML can be represented with or without quotes. Both are

similar.. But, if we need to use the escape sequences, then we must
use double-quotes

str: Hello World

data: |
These
Newlines
Are broken up
data: >
This text is
wrapped and is a
single paragraph

Sequence(lists or arrays)
Sequences are data structures similar to a list or array that hold
multiple values under the same key. They’re defined using a block or
inline flow style.
Block style uses spaces to structure the document. It’s easier to read but is
less compact compared to flow style.
In Block Style Array elements in separate lines preceded hyphen (-)
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---
# Shopping List Sequence in Block Style
shopping:
- milk
- eggs
- juice

Flow style allows you to write sequences inline using square brackets,
similar to an array declaration in a programming language like Python
or JavaScript. Flow style is more compact but harder to read at a glance.

---
# Shopping List Sequence in Flow Style
shopping: [milk, eggs, juice]

Dictionaries

Dictionaries are collections of key-value pairs. We can have any valid data
type as a value to the key. YAML even supports the nested dictionaries.

# An employee record
employee:
name: Mithun
job: Architect
team: DevOps

Dictionaries can contain more complex structures as well, such as

sequences(Array or List of Dictionaries). Nesting sequences is a good trick to
represent complex relational data.

# List of employee(dictionaries) records with complex data.

employess:
- name: Bhaskar
job: Developer
skills:
- python
- perl
- ruby
- name: Balaji
job: Developer
skills:
- java
- go
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Multi-document support

You can have multiple YAML documents in a single YAML file to make file
organization or data parsing easier.

The separation between each document is marked by three dashes (---)

---
player: playerOne
action: attack (miss)
---
player: playerTwo
action: attack (hit)

Sample yaml files in ansible, docker & Kubernetes

Ansible Playbook
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Docker Compose file

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Kubernetes Manifest file

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YAML vs JSON vs XML

YAML (.yml or .yaml):

 Human-readable code
 Minimalist syntax
 Solely designed for data
 Similar inline style to JSON (is a superset of JSON)
 Allows comments
 Strings without quotation marks
 Considered the “cleaner” JSON
 Advanced features (extensible data types, relational anchors, and
mapping types preserving key order)

Use Case: YAML is best for data-heavy apps that use DevOps pipelines or
configurations. It’s also helpful for when other developers on your team will
work with this data often and therefore need it to be more readable.

JSON(.json)

 Harder to read
 Explicit, strict syntax requirements
 Similar inline style to YAML (some YAML parsers can read JSON
files)
 No comments
 Strings require double quotes

Use Case: JSON is favoured in web development as it’s best for

serialization formats and transmitting data over HTTP connections.

XML(.xml)

 Harder to read
 More verbose
 Acts as a markup language, while YAML is for data formatting
 Contains more features than YAML, like tag attributes
 More rigidly defined document schema

Use Case: XML is best for complex projects that requiree fine control over
validation, schema, and namespace. XML is not human-readable and
requires more bandwidth and storage capacity, but offers unparalleled
control.