yngr

Yngr is a term used in technology circles to denote a lightweight data-serialization format designed for compact encoding of structured data in distributed systems. It emphasizes simplicity, fast parsing, and ease of human inspection. The lowercase form yngr is sometimes used in project names and documentation.

Yngr originated as an informal open-source effort in the early 2020s, with contributors from several software communities. A reference specification and reference implementations appeared in quick succession, aiming to offer an alternative to JSON and YAML that reduces boilerplate while remaining readable. There is no single governing body, and multiple independent implementations exist.

The format supports primitive types, lists, and mappings, with a minimal syntax intended to be both machine- and human-friendly. It provides a text representation that is indentation-light and a binary encoding that aims for compactness and fast decoding. It can be parsed in streaming fashion and supports schemas for validation, though some proponents emphasize a schema-free mode for flexibility.

Yngr has seen use in small-scale projects, research prototypes, and some microservice ecosystems as an alternative to JSON, YAML, or MessagePack. Critics point to a fragmented ecosystem, uneven tooling, and the absence of formal standards, which can hinder interoperability. As a community-driven effort, progress depends on active contributions and user feedback.