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Re: SDSI syntax

On Mon, 29 Apr 1996, Ron Rivest wrote:

> 
> The ability to nest objects inside each other is tremendously powerful
> and useful.  That is one reason why in SDSI[1] Butler Lampson and I
> decided in favor of fully parenthesized S-expressions, rather than having
> data structures that are flat (as I understand the whois++ data structures

Whois++ (and in general all RFC822 derived formats) are basically flat. 
There was an attempt to define a recursive data model (I think Dave 
Crocker was the author), but it was not a pretty sight. SEXPR notation is 
better, but displeases non lisp-hackers. The two can  be combined, 
e.g. a PICS instance in an HTTP header. 

BTW, some parts of the example you used looked wierd - some strings were 
in quotes, others weren't. If you do go for a sexpr solution it might be 
better if you use something directly (read)able.

Simon

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