> The existing pack and unpack methods are dependent upon a
> simple yet complex 'format' structure, which is often
> difficult to get right, and which carries no information
> regarding the associated variable names.
I know what you mean, but it reads like "black yet white". "simple
grammar which leads to opaque format specifications, which are often"
maybe.
> A whole new body of code, implementing an enhanced data
> description capability. Possibly with the following method
> design. [Note: Design is currently expressed in Perl5
> syntax. At least I think it is. PROOFREADERS! ATTACK!]
I'll leave that to others. My only comment is that pack and unpack
are currently zippy: if going to an object-based interface slows them
appreciably, people won't be happy. More incentive to the internals
group to make method calls fast.
--
Dominic Dunlop
