[pro] Curating libraries

[Faré]

On Sun, Oct 28, 2012 at 4:25 PM, A.J. Rossini <blindglobe at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sun, Oct 28, 2012 at 2:50 AM, Faré <fahree at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I'd like to invite you to join me in this effort.
>> Whichever libraries you use or maintain,
>> please partake in this consolidation effort.
>
> As discussed, am looking at the data importers ((text)-file or system
> to CL array, i.e. the prototypical CSV to CL-array importer), and
> would be happy to work with others who want to take a lead on this
> topic (I'm aware of 5-6 blog posts over the past few years to review
> as part of due diligence, and 5+ different systems which range from
> simple importers to a bit more sophisticated state machine parsers...)
>
> I eventually need something like a unified version of R's foreign
> package (unified with the other data importer and exporter packages),
> but of course, need to start somewhere, and somewhere is with CSV,
> TSV, and similiar delimiter-separated-values (DSV).
>
Speaking of CSV, a few years back I reviewed the existing offering and
beefed up my fare-csv library which was lagging behind so it was
better than all other available CSV libraries (at the time): fare-csv
can be configured to be compliant with at least two conflicting CSV
standards, and more, and by default follows the more relaxed
"Creativyst" specification.

I haven't followed recent developments, but there as in other cases,
someone who actually develops or uses these libraries should drive a
consolidation.

—♯ƒ • François-René ÐVB Rideau •Reflection&Cybernethics• http://fare.tunes.org
You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it for himself.
        — attributed to Galileo Galilei