Components

For System#1 to communicate or exchange an object with System#2:

• System#1 ``prints'' the object into a data stream.
• Data stream is transmitted.
• System#2 ``parses'' the data stream back into the object.

Printing and parsing are the two operations that map between the lexical and logical layers. All good data exchange systems provide the equivalent of ``print'', ``transmit'', and ``parse''.

   semantics layer         System#1                  System#2
       /|\
        |
   logical layer             object                   object
       /|\           ``print'' |                       /|\``parse''
        |                     \|/                       |
   lexical layer        data stream----exchange--->data stream