dotbased

Dotbased is a lightweight data representation and configuration notation designed to encode hierarchical structures using dot-separated keys. It aims to be simple to read and easy to parse across languages, while avoiding the verbosity of traditional formats. Dotbased is often described as a minimal alternative to YAML and JSON for small to mid-sized data.

Data in dotbased is composed of single lines, each containing a key path, followed by a delimiter and a value. Nested objects are expressed by extending the path with dot segments, for example 'server.port=8080' or 'database.host=localhost'. Lists can be represented by numeric indices, such as 'services.0.name=auth'.

An example dotbased document might look like:

server.port=8080

server.host=127.0.0.1

database.name=exampledb

database.user=admin

database.password=secret

services.0.name=auth

services.0.enabled=true

services.1.name=payments

services.1.enabled=false

History and usage: The format emerged in community discussions around simplifying configuration files for microservices and small projects. It has limited adoption and is typically used where human readability and minimal parsing dependencies are valued. Implementations exist as lightweight libraries in several languages, primarily for config loading and environment-specific overrides.

Comparison and limitations: Dotbased emphasizes simplicity and line-oriented syntax but lacks some features of JSON or YAML, such as explicit data typing, anchors, or complex nesting constructs. It is best suited for flat or moderately nested configurations and for situations where line-based diffs are desirable.