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I just want to be able to do convenient transfers of
python data to other programs including over the network.
XMLRPC is excessive bloat in my opinion.  Sending a number
like 12345678 should take at most 5 bytes (a type byte and
a 4-byte int) instead of <int>12345678</int>.  For long
ints (300 digits) it's even worse.

The marshal format is fine, and writing a PEP would solve
the doc problem, but the current marshal doc says the
non-specification is intentional.  Writing it in a PEP
means not just documenting--it means asking the language
maintainers to freeze the marshal format of certain types,
instead of reserving the right to change the format in
future versions.  Writing the PEP only makes sense if
you're willing to freeze the format for those types (the
other types can stay undocumented).  Is that ok with you?

Thanks
Paul