YAML

What is the opposite of YAML? Here is what we hold, with its meaning and related words.

Noun — A plain-text format for writing structured data — lists, settings and named values — designed to be easy for people to read and edit. Instead of brackets, it uses line breaks, dashes and indentation to show how items relate to one another. It stores information; it does not give instructions, so it is not a programming language.

Synonyms by Meaning

1. noun technical, computing

A plain-text format for writing structured data — lists, settings and named values — designed to be easy for people to read and edit. Instead of brackets, it uses line breaks, dashes and indentation to show how items relate to one another. It stores information; it does not give instructions, so it is not a programming language.

“The whole deployment is configured in a single YAML file.”

data serialisation format configuration format config format markup-style data format

2. noun technical, computing

A file written in that format, usually ending in .yaml or .yml.

“Have a look at the YAML in the root of the repository.”

YAML file config file

How to use YAML

The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.

YAML file YAML config valid YAML YAML syntax parse YAML

Technical, very common in software configuration and deployment.

Etymology

A recursive acronym for YAML Ain't Markup Language; it originally stood for Yet Another Markup Language.

Full origin of YAML →

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between YAML and JSON?

Both describe the same kinds of structured data, but JSON uses braces, brackets and quotation marks, while YAML uses indentation and dashes and needs far less punctuation. YAML is easier for a person to read and allows comments; JSON is stricter and simpler for machines to handle. YAML is designed so that valid JSON is also valid YAML.

Why does indentation matter so much in YAML?

Because indentation is how YAML shows which items belong inside which. Moving a line in or out by a space changes its meaning, and the format forbids tab characters for indenting, so mixing tabs and spaces is a common cause of errors.

Is .yml the same as .yaml?

Yes, they are the same format under two extensions. The three-letter .yml survives from systems that expected short extensions; the project's own recommendation is .yaml. Most tools accept either.

Nearby words

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