On 10/29/06, Robert Dockins
It may also be a good time to think about a ways to future-proof the file format so that future additions can be made without breaking compatibility. Right now the format is quite fragile. Perhaps we could take inspiration from the Java classfile format. The basic idea is that there are named blocks of data with a minimal header which gives the name of the block and the size of the data payload. The name of the block defines the meaning of the data. Eg, the 'CODE' block contains bytecode instructions, etc. If any block is encountered with an unrecognized name, it is ignored. That way, one can have optional blocks, or one can add blocks without breaking compatibility. One can also have optional information (like debugging symbols) and things of that nature.
Do they all have four character names in the java classfile format? Like in PNG or IFF or RIFF(the basis of the horrid AVI container format, among other things)?