[Python-Dev] PEP: Adding data-type objects to Python

[Edward C. Jones]

Travis E. Oliphant wrote:
 > It also bothers me that so many ways to describe binary data are
 > being used out there.  This is a problem that deserves being solved.

Is there a survey paper somewhere about binary formats? What formats are 
used in particle physics, bio-informatics, astronomy, etc? What software 
is used to read and write binary data? What descriptive languages are 
used for data (SQL, XML, etc)?