> What is the difference between .. There's zero difference between any of them except how you parse and process the data.
Answered in the previous message... "A data serialization language allows the end-user to specify how they would like to use that data, while allowing them to use standard parsing tools like jq. Cramming complex data into a value string in a key=value format gives end users the same allowance to use that data however they want, while also giving them a chore to handle parsing it in custom ways tailored to just your CLI application, likely in ways that would seem far more brittle than parsing a defined language with well defined constraints."
> With line-based shell-variable output you have a line of variables and you have blocks of lines separated by an empty line (like an HTTP 1 header)...
I would not choose to write application logic that foregoes defined data serialization languages for parsing barely structured strings the way you seem to prefer. But you go about it the way you prefer, I guess. This whole discussion leaves a lot of room for personal opinions. I think we both agree that the other person's opinion here is subjectively the more annoying route to deal with. But that's the way life is sometimes.
Answered in the previous message... "A data serialization language allows the end-user to specify how they would like to use that data, while allowing them to use standard parsing tools like jq. Cramming complex data into a value string in a key=value format gives end users the same allowance to use that data however they want, while also giving them a chore to handle parsing it in custom ways tailored to just your CLI application, likely in ways that would seem far more brittle than parsing a defined language with well defined constraints."
> With line-based shell-variable output you have a line of variables and you have blocks of lines separated by an empty line (like an HTTP 1 header)...
I would not choose to write application logic that foregoes defined data serialization languages for parsing barely structured strings the way you seem to prefer. But you go about it the way you prefer, I guess. This whole discussion leaves a lot of room for personal opinions. I think we both agree that the other person's opinion here is subjectively the more annoying route to deal with. But that's the way life is sometimes.