When the very first sentence is incorrect, the outlook for the rest looks grim. > A wire protocol is a way to pass data structures or aggregates over a serial

When the very first sentence is incorrect, the outlook for the rest looks grim. > A wire protocol is a way to pass data structures or aggregates over a serial channel between different computing environments. A real wire protocol involves not just the flow of data but the flow of control. Without knowing which data structures are replies to which others, issued under what circumstances and affecting which other parts of the state space, you don't have a protocol. All you have is a format. It's the difference between the floor plan of a courtroom vs. the rules for what happens within one, and that difference is not a minor one. Then, predictably, ESR fails to distinguish between three separate concepts: binary vs. text, fixed vs. variable length fields, self-describing vs. not. While he sets up a false dichotomy between two, all eight combinations actually exist. There are even further variations. "Self-describing" can apply to any combination of length/delimiters, field names, internal format/encoding, applicable versions, mandatory vs. optional, and many more. If you want to have a serious discussion about designing protocols and formats, the design space is much larger than "NTP's wire format sucks for one set of constraints and purposes" which is all you'll get from this article.