> It would be interesting to think about what set of tools gives 80% of the plain text benefit. My experience with binary protocols is that one of the first to

> It would be interesting to think about what set of tools gives 80% of the plain text benefit. My experience with binary protocols is that one of the first tools you write is one that converts it to a text format, and you then receive nearly 100% of the plain text benefit, as long as you can use that tool.