[csv] shorten and move quote rules to first example

Author: verhovsky

csv.md

@@ -1,94 +1,63 @@
 ---
-language: CSV
+name: CSV
 contributors:
-- [Timon Erhart, 'https://github.com/turbotimon/']
+    - [Timon Erhart, 'https://github.com/turbotimon/']
 ---
 
-CSV (Comma-Separated Values) is a lightweight file format used to store tabular
-data in plain text, designed for easy data exchange between programs,
-particularly spreadsheets and databases. Its simplicity and human readability
-have made it a cornerstone of data interoperability. It is often used for
-moving data between programs with incompatible or proprietary formats.
-
-While RFC 4180 provides a standard for the format, in practice, the term "CSV"
- is often used more broadly to refer to any text file that:
-
-- Can be interpreted as tabular data
-- Uses a delimiter to separate fields (columns)
-- Uses line breaks to separate records (rows)
-- Optionally includes a header in the first row
+CSV (Comma-Separated Values) is a file format used to store tabular
+data in plain text. Its simplicity and human readability
+have made it a cornerstone of data interoperability.
 
 ```csv
-Name, Age, DateOfBirth
-Alice, 30, 1993-05-14
-Bob, 25, 1998-11-02
-Charlie, 35, 1988-03-21
+Name,Age,DateOfBirth,Comment
+Alice,30,1993-05-14,
+Bob,25,1998-11-02,
+Eve,,,data might be missing because it's just text
+"Charlie Brown",35,1988-03-21,strings can be quoted
+"Louis XIV, King of France",76,1638-09-05,strings containing commas must be quoted
+"Walter ""The Danger"" White",52,1958-09-07,quotes in quotes are escaped by doubling them up
+Joe Smith,33,1990-06-02,"multi line strings
+span multiple lines
+there are no escape characters"
 ```
 
-## Delimiters for Rows and Columns
+The first row might be a header of field names or there might be no header and the first
+line is just data.
 
-Rows are typically separated by line breaks (`\n` or `\r\n`), while columns
- (fields) are separated by a specific delimiter. Although commas are the most
- common delimiter for fields, other characters, such as semicolons (`;`), are
- commonly used in regions where commas are decimal separators (e.g., Germany).
- Tabs (`\t`) are also used as delimiters in some cases, with such files often
- referred to as "TSV" (Tab-Separated Values).
+## Delimiters
 
-Example using semicolons as delimiter and comma for decimal separator:
+Rows are separated by line breaks (`\n` or `\r\n`), columns are separated by a comma.
 
-```csv
-Name; Age; Grade
-Alice; 30; 50,50
-Bob; 25; 45,75
-Charlie; 35; 60,00
-```
+Tabs (`\t`) are sometimes used instead of commas and those files are called "TSVs"
+(Tab-Separated Values). They are easier to paste into Excel.
 
-## Data Types
-
-CSV files do not inherently define data types. Numbers and dates are stored as
- plain text, and their interpretation depends on the software importing the
- file. Typically, data is interpreted as follows:
+Occasionally other characters can be used, for example semicolons (`;`) may be used
+in Europe because commas are [decimal separators](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_separator)
+instead of the decimal point.
 
 ```csv
-Data, Comment
-100, Interpreted as a number (integer)
-100.00, Interpreted as a number (floating-point)
-2024-12-03, Interpreted as a date or a string (depending on the parser)
-Hello World, Interpreted as text (string)
-"1234", Interpreted as text instead of a number
+Name;Age;Grade
+Alice;30;50,50
+Bob;25;45,75
+Charlie;35;60,00
 ```
 
-## Quoting Strings and Special Characters
+## Data Types
 
-Quoting strings is only required if the string contains the delimiter, special
- characters, or otherwise could be interpreted as a number. However, it is
- often considered good practice to quote all strings to enhance readability and
- robustness.
+CSV files do not inherently define data types. Numbers and dates are stored as
+text. Interpreting and parsing them is left up to software using them.
+Typically, data is interpreted as follows:
 
 ```csv
-Quoting strings examples,
-Unquoted string,
-"Optionally quoted string (good practice)",
-"If it contains the delimiter, it needs to be quoted",
-"Also, if it contains special characters like \n newlines or \t tabs",
-"The quoting "" character itself typically is escaped by doubling the quote ("")",
-"or in some systems with a backslash \" (like other escapes)",
+Data,Comment
+100,Interpreted as a number (integer)
+100.00,Interpreted as a number (floating-point)
+2024-12-03,Interpreted as a date or a string (depending on the parser)
+Hello World,Interpreted as text (string)
+"1234",Interpreted as text instead of a number
 ```
 
-However, make sure that for one document, the quoting method is consistent.
- For example, the last two examples of quoting with either "" or \" would
- not be consistent and could cause problems.
-
-## Encoding
-
-Different encodings are used. Most modern CSV files use UTF-8 encoding, but
- older systems might use others like ASCII or ISO-8859.
-
-If the file is transferred or shared between different systems, it is a good
- practice to explicitly define the encoding used, to avoid issues with
- character misinterpretation.
-
-## More Resources
+## Further reading
 
-+ [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma-separated_values)
-+ [RFC 4180](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc4180)
+* [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma-separated_values)
+* [RFC 4180](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc4180)