[Yaml-core] last call on spec, decision on timestamps

[Steve H. <sh...@zi...>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Clark C . Evans" <cc...@cl...>
>
> So, for the last call we have a serious question:
>
>    Do we wait for a revisit of the type system for 1.0?  If so, then
>    I think we should recall the "last call" status as this will
>    be a fundamental change and one that may take further revisions
>    to get right.

The YAML spec needs to be firm about the syntax model.  The YAML spec needs to
be agnostic and flexible about higher levels.

We should go ahead and put a "last call" on version 1.0 of the spec.  YAML is
stable enough to call 1.0.  But there's gonna be a version 2.0, and people need
to understand that.  It's gonna grow up, just like Perl grew up, just like
Python grew up, just like Java grew up, and just like Ruby grew up.

We are only just now learning how programmers really use YAML.  We have only
just begun to dig into schemas, and ypaths, and many killer apps for YAML.  We
are gonna learn lessons later that we will want to apply, and I don't want us to
be afraid to make important changes.  We won't go changing things willy-nilly,
but we'll make YAML better.

>    Else, I'd like to make the two changes to timestamp (seconds
>    optional and using midnight) to make it more useable.   But
>    not make any other serious changes.
>

I support that change.

But PyYaml will soon have a coarse option to turn off all implicit conversions,
and it may allow more fine-grained code-based tunings of implicit conversions in
the future.  I don't know if the YAML spec needs to deliberately condone this
practice, but I would like for it not to forbid it.

Cheers,

Steve