A serialization format is more than just how things are described on the wire. It's also about how both sides are expected to receive and transmit it. Naive pro

A serialization format is more than just how things are described on the wire. It's also about how both sides are expected to receive and transmit it. Naive processing of JSON in certain situations can run into sharp edges like this: https://rules.sonarsource.com/java/RSPEC-4544 https://rules.sonarsource.com/java/RSPEC-4544 Serialization formats are a part of Protocols, which essentially form the software equivalent of a spoken language between two people. Like words, the bytes can have a general syntax and expected semantic, but still be open to problematic interpretation. Like the conceptual difference between a language like English and Ithkuil. (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/12/24/utopian-for-beginners http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/12/24/utopian-for-beg...) Like Ithkuil, some formats can specify "a little more" in a way that tries to prescribe semantic meaning and syntax such that implementing according to spec limits the opportunities for issues like this to happen.