Psurl

Psurl is a fictional data-interchange format designed to encode structured data in a compact, URL-safe string. It is intended for embedding small payloads in web resources such as query strings or path segments, where conventional JSON may be too verbose or poorly suited for URL transport. The name Psurl is an acronym in-universe for "Pseudo-URL Structure Language."

The design emphasizes determinism and readability. Psurl encodes objects, arrays, and primitive values using a limited set of ASCII characters and standard URL encoding for reserved characters. It aims for round-tripping: a Psurl string should be decodable back to the original data without loss when the schema is known.

Syntax basics: key-value pairs are joined by semicolons; objects use braces and arrays use square brackets. Primitive values include strings, numbers, booleans, and null. Strings may be quoted or left unquoted if they contain only safe characters; spaces are represented with percent-encoding. A simple example is user{name:John%20Doe;roles:[admin,user]}.

Usage and reception: in the fictional literature, Psurl is presented as an educational example of URL-safe data encoding and compact payload representation. It has limited real-world adoption and is mainly used in tutorials to illustrate design trade-offs between JSON, URL encoding, and compact formats. Critics cite readability, lack of standardization, and limited tooling.

See also: JSON, URL encoding, URI query strings, compact data formats.