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

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.