निम्न (Nimn)
You'll find an overview of Nimn format on this page. Please read Specification for more detail. Or visit site to try yourself how much data it can save.
Working on improvements.
About
Nimn (निम्न) word is taken from Sanskrit language which means very less.
When we communicate between servers or clients, half of the bandwidth is utilized by metadata. Nimn data is dense form of data where field level information is kept separate from actual data. In brief, it can be understood as schema aware compressed form.
Initial version of Nimn data format was very much similar to Avro. However, to speed up the processing there are some changed done. The aim of Nimn data format is fast encoding, decoding, and search in data. No encoding technique is applied on field's value but it's structure to speed up searching. Hence encoded message has more bytes than Protobuf, Thrift, or Avro. However difference is not minimal. You can use addons for field level compression which will reduce the size further but you'll have to compromise with searching speed.
Benefits and loss
Benefits
- Size of the data is reduced by more than 80% in comparison of XML. Hence less disk space and network bandwidth is required.
- Defined schema can speed up processing of data.
Loss
- Updating schema everytime you change object structure.
- Maintaining schema definition when you want to support all older versions of data structure.
- Readability
MIME type
application/vnd.nimn , application/nimn
Comparision with other forms of data representation
XML (806 bytes)
<any_name>
<person>
<phone>+122233344550</phone>
<name>Jack</name>
<phone>+122233344551</phone>
<age>33</age>
<married>Yes</married>
<birthday>Wed, 28 Mar 1979 12:13:14 +0300</birthday>
<address>
<city>New York</city>
<street>Park Ave</street>
<buildingNo>1</buildingNo>
<flatNo>1</flatNo>
</address>
<address>
<city>Boston</city>
<street>Centre St</street>
<buildingNo>33</buildingNo>
<flatNo>24</flatNo>
</address>
</person>
<person>
<phone>+122233344553</phone>
<name>Boris</name>
<phone>+122233344554</phone>
<age>34</age>
<married>Yes</married>
<birthday>Mon, 31 Aug 1970 02:03:04 +0300</birthday>
<address>
<city>Moscow</city>
<street>Kahovka</street>
<buildingNo>1</buildingNo>
<flatNo>2</flatNo>
</address>
<address>
<city>Tula</city>
<street>Lenina</street>
<buildingNo>3</buildingNo>
<flatNo>78</flatNo>
</address>
</person>
</any_name>JSON (580 bytes)
{
"any_name": {
"person": [
{
"phone": [
122233344550,
122233344551
],
"name": "Jack",
"age": 33,
"married": "Yes",
"birthday": "Wed, 28 Mar 1979 12:13:14 +0300",
"address": [
{
"city": "New York",
"street": "Park Ave",
"buildingNo": 1,
"flatNo": 1
},
{
"city": "Boston",
"street": "Centre St",
"buildingNo": 33,
"flatNo": 24
}
]
},
{
"phone": [
122233344553,
122233344554
],
"name": "Boris",
"age": 34,
"married": "Yes",
"birthday": "Mon, 31 Aug 1970 02:03:04 +0300",
"address": [
{
"city": "Moscow",
"street": "Kahovka",
"buildingNo": 1,
"flatNo": 2
},
{
"city": "Tula",
"street": "Lenina",
"buildingNo": 3,
"flatNo": 78
}
]
}
]
}
}MESSAGE PACK (426 bytes)
81 a8 61 6e 79 5f 6e 61 6d 65 81 a6 70 65 72 73 6f 6e 92 86 a5 70 68 6f 6e 65 92 cf 00 00 00 1c 75 ac d2 26 cf 00 00 00 1c 75 ac d2 27 a4 6e 61 6d 65 a4 4a 61 63 6b a3 61 67 65 21 a7 6d 61 72 72 69 65 64 a3 59 65 73 a8 62 69 72 74 68 64 61 79 bf 57 65 64 2c 20 32 38 20 4d 61 72 20 31 39 37 39 20 31 32 3a 31 33 3a 31 34 20 2b 30 33 30 30 a7 61 64 64 72 65 73 73 92 84 a4 63 69 74 79 a8 4e 65 77 20 59 6f 72 6b a6 73 74 72 65 65 74 a8 50 61 72 6b 20 41 76 65 aa 62 75 69 6c 64 69 6e 67 4e 6f 01 a6 66 6c 61 74 4e 6f 01 84 a4 63 69 74 79 a6 42 6f 73 74 6f 6e a6 73 74 72 65 65 74 a9 43 65 6e 74 72 65 20 53 74 aa 62 75 69 6c 64 69 6e 67 4e 6f 21 a6 66 6c 61 74 4e 6f 18 86 a5 70 68 6f 6e 65 92 cf 00 00 00 1c 75 ac d2 29 cf 00 00 00 1c 75 ac d2 2a a4 6e 61 6d 65 a5 42 6f 72 69 73 a3 61 67 65 22 a7 6d 61 72 72 69 65 64 a3 59 65 73 a8 62 69 72 74 68 64 61 79 bf 4d 6f 6e 2c 20 33 31 20 41 75 67 20 31 39 37 30 20 30 32 3a 30 33 3a 30 34 20 2b 30 33 30 30 a7 61 64 64 72 65 73 73 92 84 a4 63 69 74 79 a6 4d 6f 73 63 6f 77 a6 73 74 72 65 65 74 a7 4b 61 68 6f 76 6b 61 aa 62 75 69 6c 64 69 6e 67 4e 6f 01 a6 66 6c 61 74 4e 6f 02 84 a4 63 69 74 79 a4 54 75 6c 61 a6 73 74 72 65 65 74 a6 4c 65 6e 69 6e 61 aa 62 75 69 6c 64 69 6e 67 4e 6f 03 a6 66 6c 61 74 4e 6f 4e
or
��any_name��person���phone���u��&��u��'�name�Jack�age!�married�Yes�birthday�Wed, 28 Mar 1979 12:13:14 +0300�address���city�New York�street�Park Ave�buildingNo��flatNo���city�Boston�street�Centre St�buildingNo!�flatNo���phone���u��)��u��*�name�Boris�age"�married�Yes�birthday�Mon, 31 Aug 1970 02:03:04 +0300�address���city�Moscow�street�Kahovka�buildingNo��flatNo���city�Tula�street�Lenina�buildingNo��flatNoN
NIMN (232 bytes)
ÆÆÇÆÇ122233344550º122233344551ÅJackº33ºYesºWed, 28 Mar 1979 12:13:14 +0300ÇÆNew YorkºPark Aveº1º1ÆBostonºCentre Stº33º24ÅÆÇ122233344553º122233344554ÅBorisº34ºYesºMon, 31 Aug 1970 02:03:04 +0300ÇÆMoscowºKahovkaº1º2ÆTulaºLeninaº3º78ÅÅ
NIMN with date compression (190 bytes)
ÆÆÇÆÇ122233344550º122233344551ÅJackº33ºYesº�OMs9demÇÆNew YorkºPark Aveº1º1ÆBostonºCentre Stº33º24ÅÆÇ122233344553º122233344554ÅBorisº34ºYesº�Faun34mÇÆMoscowºKahovkaº1º2ÆTulaºLeninaº3º78ÅÅ
or
�����122233344550�122233344551�Jack�33�Yes��OMs9dem��New York�Park Ave�1�1�Boston�Centre St�33�24���122233344553�122233344554�Boris�34�Yes��Faun34m��Moscow�Kahovka�1�2�Tula�Lenina�3�78��
Contribution
We need your expert advice, and contribution to grow nimn (निम्न) so that it can support all major languages. Please join the official organization on github to support it. And ask your friends, and colleagues to give it a try. It can not only save bandwidth but speed up communication, search and much more.
Implementations
Please refer following implementations in various languages
Users
List of applications and projects using Nimn. (Raise an issue to showcase yours)
