Every day, we open many files in many different formats. However, when thinking about large amounts of data, it is always a good practice to use standard formats. One of these is called Comma Separated Values, or CSVs, and it uses a comma (,) to separate elements or delimit on each row. This is particularly useful when you have large amounts of data or records, and that data will be used in a scripted fashion. For example, in every school semester, Bob, the system administrator, needs to create a series of new users and set their information. Bob also gets a standardized CSV (like in the following snippet) from the people in charge of attendance:
Rbrash,Ron,Brash,01/31/88,+11234567890,[email protected],FakePassword9000 ...
If Bob the administrator wishes to only read this information into an array and create users, it is relatively trivial for him to parse a CSV and create each record in one single scripted action. This allows Bob to focus his...