CSV vs JSON Conversion Guide

CSV and JSON are optimized for different jobs. CSV is fast for flat records. JSON is better for nested structures and typed contracts. Reliable conversion requires explicit rules, not guesswork.

Conversion Decisions You Must Define

• Delimiter policy: comma, semicolon, or tab.
• Header policy: required, optional, or generated.
• Type policy: keep strings or cast into numbers/booleans/nulls.
• Missing value policy: empty string, null, or drop field.

Typical Data Quality Traps

• Quoted values that contain separators.
• Leading zeros lost after numeric casting.
• Inconsistent column counts between rows.
• Locale differences in decimal separators.

Pragmatic Workflow

1. Normalize delimiter and header row first.
2. Convert to JSON with conservative typing.
3. Validate shape and required fields.
4. Run a final schema check before import.