Please help! Is semi-structured data the same as unstructured data?

Asked 3 years ago

I've been researching about structured and unstructured data and I'm curious if semi-structured data falls into the same category as unstructured data.  I'm not sure if there is a distinct difference between the two or if they may be used interchangeably.

Semi-structured data Data Unstructured data

Jesse Gray

Saturday, April 29, 2023

No, semi-structured data is not the same as unstructured data.
While both semi-structured and unstructured data share some similarities, they are different. Unstructured data includes data lacking a pre-defined structure or format, such as emails, social media posts, and images. Examples of unstructured data include emails, images, social media posts, videos, audio recordings, text messages, and website content.
Conversely, semi-structured data has some structure, but it's not rigidly defined like structured data. Examples of semi-structured data include XML files, JSON documents, and CSV files. 