TOON syntax and the evolution of language tokenization

When dealing with user-generated content, systems need to be both easy to use and hard to break.

TOON syntax seems to be gaining momentum. For my purposes, outside of AI, two advantages are human-readability and clear schemas.

Website contributors often have difficulty with JSON, YAML, and HTML syntax. TOON could make it easier for contributors to participate without needing to deal with syntax. YAML is flexible, but indentation-based freeform syntax has disadvantages. JSON is great when paired with TypeScript and compilers, but it's not easy for content contributors to understand. Both are harder to DIFF in revision control situations.

I look forward to a future where TOON takes on more responsibilities in the web development world outside of LLMs.

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About the author

Brandon is an engineer who loves leading, planning, designing, growth and analytics.

Five books everyone should read:

Are Your Lights On, The First 90 Days, Elements of Persuasion, Humans vs Computers, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing

Favorite quotes:

  • Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.
  • If a park ranger warns you about the bears, it ain’t cause he’s trying to keep all the bear hugs for himself.
  • A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
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