[alexpw]

1) CSV can often be human readable at a glance (more so than most other formats, depending on that data), and that makes it appear deceptively simple and compact. Possibly due to that, I'd bet most of us have been bit by a writer/reader that doesn't respect the RFC rules.

2) I ask for TSV, whenever convenient. It's been more reliable, and I don't have a comprehensive why, but I think it's slightly more resilient to writer/reader inconsistencies, for me. It may be that there's just less need for escaping and quoting, so you might dodge a smart quotes debacle when asking for a one-off from an Excel user, for example.

3) Despite the issues raised, the notion we'd retire it makes me hug it tight, because for the majority of my requirements, it hits a sweet spot. I still reserve the right to raise my fist in frustration when someone does: ",".join(mylist).

[shock-value]

TSV is a dead simple and fully-specified format. Here it is: https://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/text/tab-separa...

CSV is a mish-mash of different, complicated, and under-specified standards and/or implementations.