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275 points whatisabcdefgh | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.198s | source
1. rudedogg ◴[] No.45144066[source]
> The use of a ZIP archive to encapsulate XML files plus resources is an elegant approach to an application file format. It is clearly superior to a custom binary file format.

Can anyone expand on this? Why would it be better than a binary format?

I was watching a talk Andrew Kelley gave about a simple binary format he’s using in Zig: https://www.hytradboi.com/2025/05c72e39-c07e-41bc-ac40-85e83...

Having to map between SQLite and the application language seems like it’d add lots of complexity, but I don’t have any experience with custom file formats so would love some advice.