Draft PEP on RSON configuration file format

[Paul Rubin]

Patrick Maupin <pmaupin at gmail.com> writes:
> - There is a preexisting file format suitable for my needs, so I
> should not invent another one.

There are in fact quite a few--json, yaml, .ini, xml, Python literals
(http://code.activestate.com/recipes/364469-safe-eval/), s-expressions,
actual Python code that the application can import, and so forth.

The problem isn't that you're trying to invent a useless file format per
se, but rather that in trying to get other people to learn it and use
it, you're also trying to appropriate a chunk of the user community's
scarce and precious brain cells without good justification.  Newbie
designers are often lured into that and they're unfortunately (i.e. to
the community's detrimtent) often more successful than they really
should be.

Your one complaint about yaml is that it's slow to parse.  Why do you
care about the parsing speed of a config file?  If the existing
implementation is too slow, why not write a faster one instead of
designing yayaml?  Even yaml is excessive in my view.  "Yet another" was
an ok plan when Steve Johnson started the trope by writing Yacc 30 years
ago.  These days, don't do yet another without very convincing reasons
for rejecting what is already there.