Yes. There are two distinct use cases here: configuration files, and interchange formats. For an interchange format, JSON does the job very well. Small, simple

Yes. There are two distinct use cases here: configuration files, and interchange formats. For an interchange format, JSON does the job very well. Small, simple, human readable, easy to implement. For a configuration format, JSON leaves a lot to be desired. It's almost there, but has enough warts to be annoying. You're not going to get a one-size-fits-all format.