I personally prefer using the php format over the JSON, due to multiple encoding issues I've hit in the past and not having to deal with the small intricacies (and potential problems) of the JSON encoding/decoding on each end (the main that comes to mind is the issues of associate array key names in the JSON->PHP)
For me since I'm writing my MW interaction/bot/script/etc code in php, its VERY nice to easily get a native php array of info via format=php and unserialize(). On that same note, the pretty html print mate to php (txtfm) is invaluable for debugging/viewing the format of the return structure using a webbrowser and the GET url format. If i were writing in another language, be it application,or live JS, I would indeed seen the prevalence of JSON and/or XML, but if I'm botting from php, accessing MW in php, why not keep the info in a an encoded array format that is more native from end to end Just my 3 cents. That being said, I agree and support the idea of cleaning up some of those more ancient formats if they are not being used. Would there be anyway to hack in some temp tracking code to record/track the usage of each format for the top popular WMF sites (thinking EN:WP and commons are the first 2 coming to mind) to show if any of them are being used at all, and to what extent? _______________________________________________ Mediawiki-api mailing list [email protected] https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-api
