Re: serializing lua tables

[Adrian Sietsma <adrian_groups@...>]

Framework Studios: Hugo wrote:
> > (why serialise via xml if you can do it in lua)
> ...because Xml is a standard.
>
> Why make up yet another 'do it in lua' format when you have Xml?

because i can just loadfile/dofile the config from lua. it's not another 
format, simply lua.

I was not saying there's no use for xml, just that i use lua as a simple 
 configuration language for my app(s), and it works just fine;
 but - i have no simple way for the app to modify that config & rewrite 
it, preserving the original format.

i have lua read-write configs, but i'd like to keep the config format 
and comments.

in this case, interoperability (is that a word?) is not required, and a 
small lua text file/table is easier to read / document / edit than xml.

also, as Klaus Ripke comments, what is xml ?
if you support all the dtd/entities/embedded docs/encodings defined in 
xml, the parser is non-trivial, especially for a small app. if your xml 
parser supports only a subset of those, what standard is it ?

i have used xml for data interchange, but it's too wordy for my simple 
10-variable config file.

i'm not trying to start a "which is best" discussion (pc/mac, 
windows/*nix, emacs/vi - we could be debating that for years).

Adrian