It's sensible in principle: * Editors will play nicely with the graphical representation. If you need better graphics, it's done with font customization, which

It's sensible in principle: * Editors will play nicely with the graphical representation. If you need better graphics, it's done with font customization, which everyone already supports. * It announces that the data is source text, vs transmitted bytes. The type/token distinction is not easy to overcome. * It sits way out in Unicode's space where a collision is unlikely. The whole reason why CSV-type formats create frustration is because the tooling is ad-hoc, never does the right thing and uses the lower byte spaces where people stuff all kinds of random junk. This is the "fuck it, you get the same treatment as a Youtube video id" kind of solution. That said, if used, someone will attack it by printing those characters as input.