EBMLs

EBML, or Extensible Binary Meta Language, is a binary file format designed for storing and transmitting structured data. It's essentially a way to organize data into a series of nested elements, where each element has an ID, a size, and a data payload. This structure is similar to how XML organizes data in text, but EBML is designed for binary efficiency.

The core principle of EBML is extensibility. New data types and structures can be added without breaking compatibility with older parsers. This is achieved through a defined set of element IDs, where specific IDs are reserved for known data types, and others can be used for custom extensions. This makes EBML a flexible format for various applications, particularly those that require efficient storage of large amounts of data or need to evolve over time.

A key feature of EBML is its hierarchical nature. Elements can contain other elements, creating a tree-like structure that allows for complex data representation. This nesting is managed through the size field of each element, which indicates the length of its data payload, including any nested elements it contains. This self-describing nature simplifies parsing and data interpretation.

EBML is often used as a base for other container formats. For example, the Matroska multimedia container format (MKV) is built upon EBML. This allows Matroska to store various types of media data, such as video, audio, and subtitles, in a structured and extensible way. Its binary nature makes it more compact and faster to parse than text-based formats for similar data.