## 13.1.2 Data stream format

The data format used by `pickle` is Python-specific. This has the advantage that there are no restrictions imposed by external standards such as XDR (which can't represent pointer sharing); however it means that non-Python programs may not be able to reconstruct pickled Python objects.

By default, the `pickle` data format uses a printable ASCII representation. This is slightly more voluminous than a binary representation. The big advantage of using printable ASCII (and of some other characteristics of `pickle`'s representation) is that for debugging or recovery purposes it is possible for a human to read the pickled file with a standard text editor.

There are currently 3 different protocols which can be used for pickling.

- Protocol version 0 is the original ASCII protocol and is backwards compatible with earlier versions of Python.

- Protocol version 1 is the old binary format which is also compatible with earlier versions of Python.

- Protocol version 2 was introduced in Python 2.3. It provides much more efficient pickling of new-style classes.

Refer to PEP 307 for more information.

If a protocol is not specified, protocol 0 is used. If protocol is specified as a negative value or `HIGHEST_PROTOCOL`, the highest protocol version available will be used.

Changed in version 2.3: Introduced the protocol parameter.

A binary format, which is slightly more efficient, can be chosen by specifying a protocol version >= 1.