>Parse the textual cruft into a data structure as early in the data processing pipeline as possible. Totally agree. But whether we "parse" or "yank", that pro

>Parse the textual cruft into a data structure as early in the data processing pipeline as possible. Totally agree. But whether we "parse" or "yank", that processing requires semantics. Data types can help with correct semantics to interpret the textual cruft the way the programmer intended. The other issue of strings acting as adhoc compound data formats is orthogonal.