Introduction to YAML

Demystifying YAML Data Serialization Format

De: Tarun Telang

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

YAML

YAML stands for YAML Ain't Markup Language. It is a very popular data serialization format for storing configuration data or exchanging data between people and computers. It is more human-readable and concise than XML or JSON. It has become a key technology for creating complex configurations in various modern technologies like automation, testing, containerization, cloud (AWS, Azure, or GCP) deployment, DevOps, etc.

Why Learn YAML?

Learning about YAML would be very beneficial for today's software engineers. Below is a list of some popular software tools and frameworks that extensively use the YAML data format.

• DevOps - CircleCI, Travis CI, Azure DevOps, Jenkins X
• Frameworks: Spring Boot,
• Automation: Chef Automate, Ansible
• Container: Docker, Kubernetes
• Documentation: Swagger,
• and many more ...

Who is this book for?

If you looking to build expertise in using YAML for your projects? Then this book is right for you.

This book is for developers of all skill levels who wish to stay up to date with YAML. This book is intended for Software Engineers, Full Stack Web Developers, DevOps Engineers, Software Architects, Managers, and anyone who wants to learn about YAML.

What topics are covered in this book?

The main objective of this book is to give you a foundation for using YAML. To do that, it takes you on a journey where we start with basic concepts of data serialization and then gradually explore more advanced topics like YAML syntax, anchors, etc.

You will also get to know about various parsers and emitters available in the modern programming languages and a list of various tools which are leveraging YAML technology.

What will you learn?

This book will cover everything you need to know about YAML. We start by going through the syntax per the latest YAML 1.3 specification. Next, we will also cover the fundamental principles behind it and how it works, and several YAML features that include:

• scalar data types (i.e., strings and numbers)
• containers (a list of elements)
• rich data types (i.e., dates and times)
• anchors (a way to create links in YAML documents)
• advanced features of YAML processors.
• comparison of YAML with other data formats like JSON and XML.
• tools and technologies that leverage the YAML format.

After reading this book, you will be able to:

• Understand what YAML is and how it works.
• Know the differences between XML, JSON, and YAML.
• Learn the basics of the YAML syntax.
• Use YAML in your projects to serialize and deserialize data.
• Know what tools are available to work with YAML.
• Learn how to use anchors in a YAML document.

By the end of this book, you will be well-versed with the YAML language and will have all that you need to get started with using it for your projects.

Testimonials

Check out what existing readers have to say about this book:

- This book is very helpful for beginners to learn easily from the basics and gain expertise. The core topics are covered in-depth step by step with live examples and all fundamentals concepts; I truly enjoyed learning this course very informative and highly recommended to everyone. I am waiting eagerly to learn more topics.

- Hi Tarun, I think you have covered everything required. I was not aware of YAML before, and now when I am studying AWS cloud formation, then I realize the content you have covered is very much useful. Thanks for the course.

- The simplicity with which the author has explained this topic is appreciable. Even a beginner can understand it very well with clarity. I very much liked the comparison used among JSON, XML, and YAML to explain the concepts, which helped me to understand the context of YAML usage.