MAML – A new configuration language

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Similarity to Existing Formats

  • Many see MAML as “JSON with extras” or nearly identical to HJSON/HOCON/HCL/KDL/JSON5: comments, multiline strings, optional commas, and often unquoted keys.
  • Several note prior art (HJSON, HOCON, JSON5, KDL, Lua tables, JSONC, etc.) and feel MAML doesn’t acknowledge or improve meaningfully on it.
  • Some argue it’s essentially a superset of JSON, but others point out incompatibilities (e.g., different Unicode escape syntax).

Perceived Advantages

  • Supporters like:
    • Comments and multiline strings.
    • Optional commas and unquoted keys; removing “JSON’s most annoying warts”.
    • A distinct integer type, improving over JSON’s single numeric type.
  • A few praise the spec’s attention to edge cases and see it as a pragmatic, human-friendly JSON improvement, nicer than YAML or TOML for nested data.

Critiques of Design and Data Model

  • Detractors say it only tweaks syntax while leaving fundamental issues:
    • Still Unicode-only, keys must be strings, limited data types, no dates, no NaN/Infinity, no domain-specific types.
  • Optional quotes/commas are called anti-features: more ways to write the same thing reduce consistency and complicate tooling.
  • Some worry about round‑tripping: parsers can read the “enhanced” syntax but may not preserve it on write.

“Yet Another Config Language” and Adoption Concerns

  • Strong sentiment that configuration formats are already overcrowded (JSON, YAML, TOML, JSON5, HCL, Dhall, CUE, jsonnet, Pkl, etc.).
  • Many say JSON’s shortcomings aren’t bad enough to justify another format with minimal semantic gain, and that poor ecosystem support will doom new contenders.
  • Others counter that YAML’s footguns and JSON’s rigidity justify continued experimentation.

Broader Perspectives & Alternatives

  • Several suggest richer or more ambitious approaches like Nix, Dhall, CUE, jsonnet, Pkl, EDN, or functional/typed configuration, rather than another JSON-like syntax.
  • Some argue for typeless or application-defined typing; others prefer strong intrinsic types.

Meta: Naming and Author Communication

  • “Minimal Abstract Markup Language” is criticized as misleading: it’s configuration, not markup, nor clearly “abstract”.
  • There’s a side thread about the FAQ answers appearing AI-generated, reducing confidence, though some attribute it to language/grammar assistance rather than content fabrication.