fixed some of the legends text export information (still unclear whether that's going to be replaced/augmented by xml)...
JSON looks nicer than XML, and there are libraries for reading and writing it in almost every language.
Strike 1: JSON has no comment syntax
Strike 2: sexp syndrome. tell me in three seconds or less whether these "tags" are balanced. Now tell me before I reach the last closing bracket.
{'a' : {'b' : 1, {'c' : {'d' : 1 }, {'e', 2}, 'f' : 3}}, {'g' : 5}}}
the last bracket is one too many, though i don't think with what you wrote it would have mattered. usually having too many starting brackets is a problem, not so much with ending brackets. any one who does parenthesis in parenthesis math, or spaghetti code can catch that pretty quickly, but as i said in your example it doesn't really matter.
personally i think is xml is overrated, it is simply the flavor of the month, i'd stick with text it has been around longer. not to mention that anyone that can make good use of xml ought to be able to make something that can convert text to xml, or at least find a program to do it, heck one can convert it to json as well.
What are you guys talking about?
They're talking about what format they'd like to see exports of information from Dwarf Fortress in. JSON is the "new hotness", XML is the "old workingness".
JSON is good for certain things, but XML works in all cases.
if someone comes along and supports json then it will be the new hotness, until then it is just for the pie in the sky dreamers, in reality there is no serious functional difference between the two.