Re: Fixing appcache: a proposal to get us started

On 03/26/2013 08:02 AM, Jonas Sicking wrote:

> Another "feature" that we are proposing is to drop the current
> manifest format and instead use a JSON based one. The most simple
> reason for this is that we noticed that the information we need to
> express quickly became complex enough that using a format with simple
> parsing rules was beneficial.
>
> A format based on extending the current appcache format would be no
> problem for a UA to parse. However the complexity that we need to
> express resulted in something that's too hard for a human to manually
> write, or for a human to understand when looking at somebody else's
> manifest in order to learn.
>
> The simple parsing rules for JSON seemed like a better fit. It also
> provides more of an opportunity to extend the format in the future.
> JSON also has advantages when it comes to creating APIs exposed to
> webpages for interacting with appcaches. More about this below.

Some slightly trivial feedback: I am worried about using a format with 
no support for comments. I agree that some hypothetical JSON+comments 
format would be a good fit, but without the ability to document complex 
rulesets, it seems like we are going to create a maintenance nightmare.

Received on Tuesday, 26 March 2013 08:49:22 UTC