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I think we need to start distinguishing between data formats and configuration formats. JSON is a data format. I loathe working with NodeJS because of the neces

I think we need to start distinguishing between data formats and configuration formats. JSON is a data format. I loathe working with NodeJS because of the necessity of hand-editing JSON, and that just makes me want to bash my head against the wall. In my side projects, generally I'll hand-write a parser with regular expressions because I haven't yet found one I actually like both looking at and editing. I can fix every single other problem except that one. With SAN, the issue is the bracket delimiters. I hate futzing with them, just let me use tabs. I want this: Monthly Recurring Patreon: 8 | 9/17/2018 | 2mo - Acc: Capital One - Tags: arts Workflowy: 4.99 | 9/17/2018 | 6mo - Acc: Amex - Tags: tools RubyTapas: 15 | 9/17/2018 | 6mo - Acc: Amex - Tags: education Verizon: 70.17 | 9/17/2018 | 6mo - Acc: Amex - Tags: utilities,tools This is easy to look at, easy to edit with a text editor, and, once the parser's written, dead simple with Ruby POROs, easy to parse into queryable data structures. I have yet to find any format that's intended to be human-editable that doesn't actually feel 'nice to the touch'. So I just make my own. When hand-editing the format above, I generally don't type in a whole line at a time. I'll just add in the basics, and fill it out later, perhaps with machine processing. Tags in particular are easy to copy-paste in by hand and are generally the last part of the line.

z0mbie42 8y ago
Hi, good reply. The reason for brackets are auto formatting by the san CLI (think go/rust fmt)
- vinceguidry 8y ago
  With a data format, you need auto-format, you have no idea what shape it's going to be in and it has to handle arbitrary everything. With a configuration format, you want a highly consistent structure, the machine should be able to output it just with print statements. If my configuration needs auto-formatting, something's gone very very wrong in the design of my application.
Entangled 8y ago
Try Dixy :) https://github.com/kuyawa/dixy https://github.com/kuyawa/dixy
- vinceguidry 8y ago
  Someone else's hand-rolled parser isn't going to be my hand-rolled parser.
kjeetgill 8y ago
While I like python style indentation I absolutely cannot accept unquoted strings. Bonus points for a good multiline string format. I hate, hate, hate the ambiguity and the flavor of the week tokenization/operator precedence/does it trim whitespace questions. This is JSON's biggest strength: it's trivially unambiguous.

z0mbie42 8y ago

Hi, good reply. The reason for brackets are auto formatting by the san CLI (think go/rust fmt)

vinceguidry 8y ago
With a data format, you need auto-format, you have no idea what shape it's going to be in and it has to handle arbitrary everything. With a configuration format, you want a highly consistent structure, the machine should be able to output it just with print statements. If my configuration needs auto-formatting, something's gone very very wrong in the design of my application.

Entangled 8y ago

Try Dixy :) https://github.com/kuyawa/dixy https://github.com/kuyawa/dixy

vinceguidry 8y ago
Someone else's hand-rolled parser isn't going to be my hand-rolled parser.

kjeetgill 8y ago

While I like python style indentation I absolutely cannot accept unquoted strings. Bonus points for a good multiline string format. I hate, hate, hate the ambiguity and the flavor of the week tokenization/operator precedence/does it trim whitespace questions. This is JSON's biggest strength: it's trivially unambiguous.