Why do we keep using CSV?

Posted by Stephen on Programmers See other posts from Programmers or by Stephen
Published on 2011-02-14T21:35:24Z Indexed on 2011/11/30 18:16 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 291

Filed under:

best-practices

|

Productivity

|

ethics

Why do we keep using CSV?

I recently made a shift to working the health domain and despite the wonderful work in data transfer standards, all data transfer is in CSV, both for reporting to external organisations, and for data migrations when implementing new systems.

Unfortunately the use of CSV is the cause of the endless repetition of the same stupid errors, with the same waste of developer time. (bad escaping, failing to handle null fields etc.)

I know we can do better, and anything between JSON and XML (depending on the instance) would be fine. (Most of the time this is data going from one MS SQLserver 2005 to another!)

I feel as if each time I see this happening I am literally watching one developer waste anothers time.

So why do we keep shafting each other? When will we stop?

© Programmers or respective owner

Related posts about best-practices

Batch Best Practices and Technical Best Practices Updated

as seen on Oracle Blogs - Search for 'Oracle Blogs'
The Batch Best Practices for Oracle Utilities Application Framework based products (Doc Id: 836362.1) and Technical Best Practices for Oracle Utilities Application Framework Based Products (Doc Id: 560367.1) have been updated with updated and new advice for the various versions of the Oracle… >>> More
Partial template specialization of free functions - best practices

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
As most C++ programmers should know, partial template specialization of free functions is disallowed. For example, the following is illegal C++: template <class T, int N> T mul(const T& x) { return x * N; } template <class T> T mul<T, 0>(const T& x) { return T(0); } //… >>> More
Object Oriented PHP Best Practices

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Say I have a class which represents a person, a variable within that class would be $name. Previously, In my scripts I would create an instance of the object then set the name by just using: $object->name = "x"; However, I was told this was not best practice? That I should have a function set_name()… >>> More
Good place to look for example Database Designs - Best practices

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I have been given the task to design a database to store a lot of information for our company. Because the task is rather big and contains multiple modules where users should be able to do stuff, I'm worried about designing a good data model for this. I just don't want to end up with a badly designed… >>> More
Notification Email Best Practices--From Server Setup to Programming

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
All, I'm in the process now of building a SaaS tool that allows network admins to generate notification emails to the members of the end-users of our platform (among many many other things). I'm running into a bit of an "out of my expertise" wall, as I know there are a lot of variables involved… >>> More

Related posts about Productivity

Python productivity VS Java Productivity

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
Over on SO I came across a question regarding which platform, Java or Python is best for developing on Google AppEngine. Many people were boasting of the increased productivity gained from using Python over Java. One thing I would say about the Python vs Java productivity argument, is Java has excellent… >>> More
Python productivity VS Java Productivity

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
Over on SO I came across a question regarding which platform, Java or Python is best for developing on Google AppEngine. Many people were boasting of the increased productivity gained from using Python over Java. One thing I would say about the Python vs Java productivity argument, is Java has excellent… >>> More
Upcoming UPK Events

as seen on Oracle Blogs - Search for 'Oracle Blogs'
February 15th: UPK: Follow Panduit's Lead and Leverage Oracle's User Productivity Kit To Achieve Your Goals - Join us for a live webcast to learn how Oracle's User Productivity Kit can help you meet and exceed your goals. The webcast will feature Jim Boss, from the Panduit Corporation, who will… >>> More
The Art of Productivity

as seen on ASP.net Weblogs - Search for 'ASP.net Weblogs'
Getting things done has always been a challenge regardless of gender, age, race, skill, or job position. No matter how hard some people try, they end up procrastinating tasks until the last minute. Some people simply focus better when they know they’re out of time and can’t procrastinate any longer… >>> More
Productivity Improvements in Mono 2.4: Components and Architecture

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
Take a look under the hood of the latest version of Mono, the open source .NET development framework. Find out how its components and architecture help make developers more productive. >>> More