I agree that one could make wild YAML if you get into advanced stuff, but I make YAML files that look like this: things: - title: "A thing" item_id

I agree that one could make wild YAML if you get into advanced stuff, but I make YAML files that look like this: things: - title: "A thing" item_id: "deadbeef-feb1-4e8c-b61c-dd9a7a9fffff" is_active: true favorite_formats: - yml - ini - title: "Another thing" item_id: "deadbeef-feb1-3333-4444-dd9a7a9fffff" is_active: false favorite_formats: - mp3 - wav Just because you can use it to create a monstrosity doesn't prevent it from being useful for simple configuration. Basically, it's just prettier JSON.