Toon Vs. Json: Byte-Level Efficiency Model
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The article compares the byte-level efficiency of TOON and JSON data formats, with a focus on their use in Large Language Models. TOON is presented as a more efficient alternative to JSON, with a formal mathematical analysis showing potential efficiency gains. The discussion revolves around the verbosity of JSON and its impact on token usage and inference costs.
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Nov 28, 2025 at 7:11 AM EST
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Under the assumptions described below (compact JSON, canonical TOON, ASCII keys and punctuation, shallow to moderate nesting, and mostly unquoted TOON strings), TOON's structural overhead is lower than compact JSON for the structure families analyzed here, except arrays of arrays.