Data::Pond

This module is concerned with representing data structures in a textual
notation known as "Pond" (*P*erl-based *o*pen *n*otation for *d*ata).
The notation is a strict subset of Perl expression syntax, but is
intended to have language-independent use. It is similar in spirit to
JSON, which is based on JavaScript, but Pond represents fewer data types
directly.

The data that can be represented in Pond consist of strings (of
characters), arrays, and string-keyed hashes. Arrays and hashes can
recursively (but not cyclically) contain any of these kinds of data.
This does not cover the full range of data types that Perl or other
languages can handle, but is intended to be a limited, fixed repertoire
of data types that many languages can readily process. It is intended
that more complex data can be represented using these basic types. The
arrays and hashes provide structuring facilities (ordered and unordered
collections, respectively), and strings are a convenient way to
represent atomic data.

The Pond syntax is a subset of Perl expression syntax, consisting of
string literals and constructors for arrays and hashes. Strings may be
single-quoted or double-quoted, or may be decimal integer literals.
Double-quoted strings are restricted in which backslash sequences they
can use: the permitted ones are the single-character ones (such as
"\n"), "\x" sequences (such as "\xe3" and "\x{e3}"), and octal digit
sequences (such as "\010"). Non-ASCII characters are acceptable in
quoted strings. Strings may also appear as pure-ASCII barewords, when
they directly precede "=>" in an array or hash constructor. Array ("[]")
and hash ("{}") constructors must contain data items separated by ","
and "=>" commas, and can have a trailing comma but not adjacent commas.
Whitespace is permitted where Perl allows it. Control characters are not
permitted, except for whitespace outside strings.

A Pond expression can be "eval"ed by Perl to yield the data item that it
represents, but this is not the recommended way to do it. Any use of
"eval" on data opens up security issues. Instead use the
"pond_read_datum" function of this module, which does not use Perl's
parser but directly parses the restricted Pond syntax.

This module is implemented in XS, with a pure Perl backup version for
systems that can't handle XS.

INSTALLATION

This is a Perl module distribution. It should be installed with whichever
tool you use to manage your installation of Perl, e.g. any of

  cpanm .
  cpan  .
  cpanp -i .

Consult http://www.cpan.org/modules/INSTALL.html for further instruction.
Should you wish to install this module manually, the procedure is

  perl Build.PL
  ./Build
  ./Build test
  ./Build install

COPYRIGHT

Copyright (C) 2009 PhotoBox Ltd

Copyright (C) 2010, 2012, 2017 Andrew Main (Zefram) <zefram@fysh.org>

LICENSE

This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as Perl itself.
