Investigate KDL document language
- Dominant language
- Python
- Stars
- 37
- Forks
- 9
- PR merge metrics
- No merged PRs in 30d
Description
the KDL document language is an intriguing alternative to formats like JSON, YAML & TOML. To quote the [KDL docs](https://kdl.dev/):
> A KDL node is a node name, followed by zero or more "arguments", and children.
```sdl
title "Hello, World"
```
> You can also have multiple values in a single node!
```sdl
bookmarks 12 15 188 1234
```
> Nodes can have properties.
```sdl
author "Alex Monad" email="alex@example.com" active=true
```
> And they can have nested child nodes, too!
```sdl
contents {
section "First section" {
paragraph "This is the first paragraph"
paragraph "This is the second paragraph"
}
}
```
One of the things that first struck me is how "shell-like" it reads, and that it looks like it would be easy to write scripts in, making it a nice fit for BitOps configurations. Since it has explicit scope boundaries there's less need deep nesting like in YAML. Also, as it has a concept of node type, there's less ambiguity about the type of an object relative to YAML, where you need to infer the type of an object based on _where_ it appears in the data hierarchy.
The specification is still quite young, but there's a fair number of parser implementations. If we end up needing particular features from YAML it's possible we could still get them added to the standard.
A developer should explore what BitOps functionality might look like through a KDL based interface, any advantages or shortcomings, and the difficulty of supporting that interface in addition to YAML in a future version.
Contributor guide
Research direction
Start with the linked KDL specification and compare its nodes, properties, children, and typing model with BitOps' existing YAML-based configuration interface. Document the potential advantages, shortcomings, and the effort required to support KDL alongside YAML; completion should provide a reasoned feasibility assessment rather than a code change.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- yaml
- Domain
- devops, tooling
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Needs clarification
- Newbie friendliness
- 20/100