Data formats Hall of Fame
-------------------------
Here are various data formats that I currently consider the best to use in
different situations, that is, if you can make a choice which format to use. 
This list is going to be updated from time to time and any format listed 
here may or may not have a LuxPhlog post written about it.

=============================
Part 1: KISS-friendly formats
=============================

## Text documents ##

* Plain text (you're reading it)
* Gemtext

## Structured text data, tables, key-value ##

* TSV
* Recfiles
* vCard 2.1

## Data serialization ##

* netstrings
* f2p ([1])
* Base64
* Base32

## Data marshalling ##

* bencode
* netstrings ([2])
* Pickle

## Archives ##

* shar (including Lshar)
* cpio

## Stream compression ##

* RLE/RLUE
* Unary coding
* Delta coding
* PackBits (a variant of RLE)
* BWT, MTF transformations
* LZP ([3])
* LZW
* 4PE

## Raster graphics ##

* PNM (PBM/PGM/PPM)
* XPM2

## Sound ##

* 1-bit PFM [4]
* Unsigned 8-bit linear PCM
* Signed 16-bit linear PCM
* mu-law/A-law PCM
* AU container for PCM

## Music ##

* RTTTL/RTX
* iMelody 1.2
* eMelody 1.0
* Bytebeat [4] (incl. AwkBeat)

## Video ##

* YUV4MPEG2 4:4:4 aka yuv444p

=============================================================
Part 2: More complex but still relatively lightweight formats
=============================================================

## Text documents ##

* Markdown ([5])
* POD
* Texinfo

## Structured text data, tables, key-value ##

* CSV
* .ini/.properties
* iCalendar 2.0

## Archives ##

* tar/ustar
* PAX

## Stream compression ##

* Fibonacci coding
* RLGR coding
* Golomb-Rice coding
* LZSS

## Document publishing ##

* troff/groff
* TeX/LaTeX
* PostScript

## Raster graphics ##

* PAM
* BMP
* QOI

## Vector graphics ##

* pic/gpic
* Graphviz DOT
* SVG Tiny PS profile ([6])

## Sound ##

* WAV container for PCM
* AIFF container for PCM
* 4-bit ADPCM

## Music ##

* MIDI
* AHX
* MOD

## Video ##

* M-JPEG
* AVS

## 3D modelling ##

* OpenSCAD


--- Luxferre ---

[1]: selective \x encoding of unsafe characters, used in Lshar, for instance
[2]: yes, they can be used for marshalling too if you pass data types inside
[3]: LZ Predictor based compression - I have yet to study it more myself
[4]: not a sound format but a realtime software technique to represent it
[5]: if you don't need images or inline formatting, prefer Gemtext instead
[6]: yes, it still is XML-based, but nothing better exists at the moment