TSV vs CSV file. Which is Better and When to Use Them?

Tab Separated Values (TSV)and Comma Separated Values (CSV) are the two file type extensions used to load a set of data. A .tsv file will have tab separated values whereas .csv file has comma separated fields. These types of files are used to get raw data for many purposes possible. Most of the Text Editors can read both the type of files. TSV extension files are more efficient for many applications in programming languages like javascript, tensorflow etc. Also, in a TSV file rows and columns are easily distinguishable. CSV files are used more in fields like machine learning, data analysis, deep learning. Both the types of files are highly used in Data Science related fields. The basic idea for the classification of files is based on the handling of delimiters and newline characters of a particular dataset.

The differences in tabular format:

Parameter	.CSV file	.TSV file
Literal Meaning	A .csv file contains comma separated values	A .tsv file contains Tab separated values.
File Data Format	Plaintext	Tabular format
Origin of type	Spreadsheet or any database	Spreadsheet
Readability	Not Easy to read for humans	Easy to read for humans
Efficiency	It is less efficient.	It is more Efficient
Supportability	Most softwares can read a .csv file	Not many softwares can read a .tsv file.
Ease	It is complicated to work with in some cases	It is easy to work with
Examples	“250010605000007”,”8″,”67″,”31″,”98″,”68.367346938775510″,”HOMEM” “250010605000008”,”8″,”101″,”30″,”131″,”77.099236641221370″,”HOMEM” “250010605000009”,”8″,”137″,”44″,”181″,”75.690607734806630″,”HOMEM” “250010605000010”,”8″,”114″,”30″,”144″,”79.166666666666670″,”HOMEM” “250010605000011”,”1″,”213″,”117″,”330″,”64.545454545454550″,”HOMEM”	x       y 5       90 21      30 45      50 61      55 85      25
Advantages	>It is highly used > It is difficult to understand >Highly compatible with many softwares and tools.	> It is technically better > It is easy to understand
Applications	Used in data Analytics, Machine Learning, Visualization and Data Analysis tools.	Used for exporting and exchanging data among various databases. It is also used in retrieving database data.

 

In a crux, it depends upon your application for which you are using the data file. The TSV file format is a more constructive and a more technically sound format. Whereas CSV is more prevalent and is being used more than its counterpart. Also, handling delimiters becomes easy in case of using a TSV file. So it is evident that TSV file is the better version of a CSV file but it is the CSV file that is winning the popularity battle here.