Configuration Format

[Sammy99jsp]

So, currently I'm writing some of the configuration system for the compositor and I want your opinions (🧅s) on file formats.

Some criteria:

• It must allow comments (so no vanilla JSON);
• It must have autocomplete support for IDEs (i.e. an IDE should autocomplete "quitCompo" to "quitCompositor");
• It must be text-based.

Anyway, have at it. I'll suggest some ideas to get the ball rolling.

[Sammy99jsp]

JSON5 + JSON Schema

• JSON5 Supports Comments!
• It has support for a centralized schema hosted at a URL (such as https://schemae.avdanos.org/avconfig.schema.json), which many IDEs can auto-complete.
• It's text-based, duuuuh.

Example Config

{
    keybinds: {
        // Open up a UI that lets the user quickly go through their open windows.
        enumerateWindows: "Super+Tab",
    }
}

[Trynera]

use properties files (they're smaller and also resemble unix more ig)

[Trynera]

although using .properties files would be alot slower in loading, which could be really bad if we're planning to do hot reloading

[Sammy99jsp]

Yea, hot reloading is a key priority for me.

[Froxcey]

A Brainf**k executable that outputs the data.

Seriously tho, I am in support for good old simple .conf and avoid anything to do with any languages like .properties (often associated with java) .json (javascript) etc...

[Sammy99jsp]

Interesting. Any particular reason to be language-agnostic?

[Froxcey]

cuz now I want to push for .zon, zig object notation

Okay maybe .properties is acceptable, but generally object notation files are good for storing data and not configurations. They can be very expressive. Imagine how many tab presses will be needed to write a dotfile for the compositor if we choose jsòn. I suggest anything that's simple kv (toml & yaml), but .conf especially (check your /etc folder and you will know why).

[Sammy99jsp]

True dat: /etc files are usually in the form key=value, including in similar projects like Hyprland.

[Trynera]

no joke, Brainfuck could actually work since it's cell based and not key based. It's also turing complete which allows for other cool stuff, the only problem I could have with it is it potentially being a security risk

[Froxcey]

1. It has JIT so it would be blazing fast
2. It is memory safe
3. It has great ecosystem support with syscall now available, making anything possible

[kerichdev]

imo I think json or alike are good for config files but they contain massive overhead like the {...} formatting, so me personally, id go with either .yaml format:

category:
    subcategory:
        - key: value

or the .ini format:

[category]
key: value

[Beryesa]

While I think the design should be such that the average user never needs to see these files but I'd also vote for either of these for advanced users and alike for simplicity.

[AZProductions]

Might be too much out of there, but what about toml?

[Sammy99jsp]

Pretty standard in the Rust ecosystem, so nothing out of field here.

[JustAnEric]

Maybe in INI? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INI_file