8.3

Semi-structured data

Data that does not conform to a rigid structure like traditional databases; it can have varying numbers and types of elements.

Unstructured data

Data stored as a continuous string of characters, not organized in a predefined data model.

XML

Extensible Markup Language used to define the structure of data in a flexible format.

Root element

The top-level element in an XML document that contains all other elements.

JSON

JavaScript Object Notation, a lightweight data-interchange format that is easy for humans to read and write.

JSON_OBJECT()

A function in MySQL that converts element names and data into a JSON document.

Hierarchy in XML

The hierarchical structure representation achieved by nesting elements within elements.

Element

A fundamental building block of XML and JSON documents, consisting of a start tag, data, and an end tag.

Key-value pair

A basic structure in JSON where a name (key) is associated with a value.

Data types in JSON

There are six types in JSON: string, number, object, array, boolean, and null.

JSON array

A data structure in JSON that holds an ordered collection of values.

MySQL JSON functions

Functions provided by MySQL to manipulate JSON data, such as JSON_EXTRACT.

Referential integrity

A property of data which ensures that relationships between tables remain consistent.