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diff --git a/docs/decoder.md b/docs/decoder.md
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+# Decoding
+
+A separate process called "decoding" can transform simple data structures,
+consisting of only the datum types, into a richer set of Zisp types.
+
+For example, the decoder may turn `(#HASH ...)` into a vector, as one would
+expect a vector literal like `#(...)` to work in Scheme.  Bytevector syntax
+could use a custom rune as a list prefix, like: `#u8(...)`
+
+Runes may be decoded in isolation as well, rather than transforming a list
+whose head they appear in.  This can implement Boolean constants as `#true`
+and `#false` or `#t` and `#f`.
+
+The decoder recognizes `(#QUOTE ...)` to aid in implementing the traditional
+quoting mechanism of Lisp/Scheme, but with a significant difference:
+
+Traditional quote is "unhygienic" in Scheme terms.  An expression such as
+`'(foo bar)` will always be read as `(quote (foo bar))` regardless of what
+lexical context it appears in, so the semantics will depend on whatever the
+identifier `quote` is bound to, meaning that the expression may end up
+evaluating to something other than the list `(foo bar)`.
+
+The Zisp decoder, which transforms not datum to datum, but object to object,
+can turn `#QUOTE` into an object which encapsulates the notion of quoting,
+which the Zisp evaluator can recognize and act upon, ensuring that an
+expression like `'(foo bar)` always turns into the list `(foo bar)`.
+
+One way to think about this, in Scheme (R6RS / syntax-case) terms, is that
+expressions like `'(foo bar)` turn directly into a syntax object when read,
+and the created syntax object begins with an identifier bound to `quote` in
+the standard library.
+
+The decoder is, of course, configurable and extensible.  The transformations
+mentioned above would be performed only when it's told to decode data which
+represents Zisp code.  The decoder may be given a different configuration,
+telling it to decode, for example, data which represents a different kind of
+domain-specific data, such as application settings, build system commands,
+complex data records with non-standard data types, and so on.
+
+<!--
+;; Local Variables:
+;; fill-column: 77
+;; End:
+-->
diff --git a/docs/parser.md b/docs/parser.md
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+# Parser for Code & Data
+
+Zisp s-expressions are defined in terms of an extremely minimal set of data
+types; only that which is necessary to build representations of more complex
+expressions and data types:
+
+    +--------+-----------------+---------------+--------+----------+------+
+    | TYPE   | Bare String     | Quoted String | Rune   | Pair     | Nil  |
+    +--------+-----------------+---------------+--------+----------+------+
+    | E.G.   | foo, |foo bar|  | "foo bar"     | #name  | (X . Y)  | ()   |
+    +--------+-----------------+---------------+--------+----------+------+
+
+Bare strings and quoted strings are polymorphic sub-types of the generic
+string type.  Bare strings are implicitly interned.
+
+The parser can also output non-negative integers, but this is only used for
+datum labels; number literals are handled by the decoder (see next section).
+
+The parser recognizes various "syntax sugar" and transforms it into uses of
+the above data types.  The most ubiquitous example is of course the list:
+
+    (datum1 datum2 ...)  ->  (datum1 . (datum2 . (... . ())))
+
+The following table summarizes the other supported transformations:
+
+    #datum  -> (#HASH . datum)        #rune(...)   -> (#rune ...)
+
+    [...]   -> (#SQUARE ...)          dat1dat2     -> (#JOIN dat1 . dat2)
+
+    {...}   -> (#BRACE ...)           dat1.dat2    -> (#DOT dat1 . dat2)
+
+    'datum  -> (#QUOTE . datum)       dat1:dat2    -> (#COLON dat1 . dat2)
+
+    `datum  -> (#GRAVE . datum)       #%hex%       -> (#LABEL . hex)
+
+    ,datum  -> (#COMMA . datum)       #%hex=datum  -> (#LABEL hex . datum)
+
+A separate process called "decoding" can transform these objects into other
+data types.  For example, `(#HASH x y z)` could become a vector, so that the
+expression `#(x y z)` works just like in Scheme.  See the next section for
+details about the decoder.
+
+Decoding also resolves datum labels, and goes over bare strings to find ones
+that are actually a number literal.  This lets us offload the complexity of
+number parsing elsewhere, so the parser remains extremely simple.
+
+Further notes about the syntax sugar table and examples above:
+
+* The terms datum, dat1, and dat2 each refer to an arbitrary datum; ellipsis
+  means zero or more data; hex is a hexadecimal number of up to 12 digits.
+
+* The `#datum` form only applies when the datum following the hash sign is a
+  list, quoted string, quote expression, another expression starting with a
+  hash sign, a bare string starting with a backslash escape (see next), or a
+  pipe-quoted bare string (see next).
+
+* A backslash causes the immediately following character to lose any special
+  meaning it would have, and be considered as part of a bare string instead.
+  (This does not apply to space or control characters.)  For example, the
+  following three character sequences are each a valid bare string:
+
+      foo\(bar\)  \]blah  \#\'xyz
+
+  Bare strings can also be "quoted" with pipes as in Scheme; it should be
+  noted that this still produces a "bare string" in terms of data type:
+
+      |foo bar baz|
+
+* Though not represented in the table due to notational difficulty, the form
+  `#rune(...)` doesn't require a list in the second position; any datum that
+  works with the `#datum` syntax also works with `#rune<DATUM>`.
+
+      #rune1#rune2  -> (#rune1 . #rune2)
+
+      #rune"text"   -> (#rune . "text")
+
+      #rune\string  -> (rune . string)
+
+      #rune'string  -> (#rune #QUOTE . string)
+
+  As a counter-example, following a rune immediately with a bare string isn't
+  possible, since it's ambiguous:
+
+      #abcdefgh  ;Could be (#abcdef . gh) or (#abcde . fgh) or ...
+
+* Syntax sugar can combine arbitrarily; some examples follow:
+
+      #{...}            -> (#HASH #BRACE ...)
+
+      #'foo             -> (#HASH #QUOTE . foo)
+
+      ##'[...]          -> (#HASH #HASH #QUOTE #SQUARE ...)
+
+      {x y}[i j]        -> (#JOIN (#BRACE x y) #SQUARE i j)
+
+      foo.bar.baz{x y}  -> (#JOIN (#DOT (#DOT foo . bar) . baz) #BRACE x y)
+
+* While in Lisp and Scheme `'foo` parses as `(quote foo)`, in Zisp it parses
+  as `(#QUOTE . foo)` instead; the operand of `#QUOTE` is the entire cdr.
+
+  The same principle is used when parsing other sugar; some examples follow:
+
+      Incorrect                              Correct
+
+      #(x y z) -> (#HASH (x y z))            #(x y z) -> (#HASH x y z)
+
+      [x y z]  -> (#SQUARE (x y z))          [x y z]  -> (#SQUARE x y z)
+
+      #{x}     -> (#HASH (#BRACE (x)))       #{x}     -> (#HASH #BRACE x)
+
+      foo(x y) -> (#JOIN foo (x y))          foo(x y) -> (#JOIN foo x y)
+
+* Runes are case-sensitive, and the parser only emits runes using upper-case
+  letters when expressing syntax sugar.  This way, there can be no accidental
+  clash with runes that appear verbatim in code, as long as only lower-case
+  letters are used for rune literals in code.
+
+<!--
+;; Local Variables:
+;; fill-column: 77
+;; End:
+-->