We have showcased here the classic impedance mismatch between serialization in a typed language and serialization in a dynamic language. The author clearly is i

We have showcased here the classic impedance mismatch between serialization in a typed language and serialization in a dynamic language. The author clearly is in the typed camp, speaking of making enumeration labels and a dated type for the names of continents. The typed language camp loves the idea of structured untyped strings in a serialization format, such as NestedText or INI. However, this is uncomfortable in dynamic language territory, for many use cases. Because of this dichotomy, any universal serialization format is going to feel like a compromise. JSON is the poster child of this. In the YAML spec, the authors explicitly stated a goal of supporting native data types of dynamic languages. This design decision seems to be a good compromise between the typed and dynamic camps, but the old saying applies: a good compromise is where everyone goes home angry.