Data structure terminology

Did you know there is now such thing as a YAML list or a JSON dictionary?

Let's get the terminology straight for basic data structures across four of the code languages we could encounter in the DevNet certification program.

Python	JSON	YAML	HCL
A Python dictionary contains multiple entries { 'key_a': 'value_a', 'key_b': 'value_b' }	A JSON object contains multiple properties { "name_a": "value_a", "name_b": "value_b" }	A YAML mapping contains multiple key-value pairs key_a: value_a key_b: value_b	An HCL map contain multiple key-value pairs tomap({ key_a = "value_a" key_b = "value_b" })
A Python list contains multiple items [ 'item_0', 'item_1' ]	A JSON array contains multiple elements [ "element_0", "element_1" ]	A YAML sequence contains multiple elements - element_0 - element_1	An HCL list contains multiple elements tolist([ "element_0", "element_1", ])
A Python tuple contains multiple values ( 'value_0', 'value_0' )	JSON doesn't support tuples	YAML doesn't support tuples	Tuple contains multiple values [ "value_0", "value_1", ]
A Python set contains multiple elements { 'element_0', 'element_1' }	JSON doesn't support sets	YAML doesn't support sets	Set contains multiple values toset([ "value_0", "value_1", ])

So if you really want to use exactly the right terms, the table above can help you.

XML and YANG terminology run their its own games and doesn't compare well with these four, so we will look closer at those terminology separate blog posts.