s-expressions are better than binary for sure but also you end up having to maintain/write parsers for front-end/back-end and more. s-expressions influenced HTML/XML creation. Anything not JSON/XML you end up with formats that don't have massive support on the client and server side and take more work to serialize/deserialize to/from, same with YAML, other formats that have more typing and rules are not as simple and do add some complexity.
The big reason that JSON and even XML were so successful is that parsing from front-end to back-end and the direct use in javascript and APIs for instance is such a simple step, JSON being easier than XML but XML being easier than binary and other formats with more requirements/rules/complexity.
The basic types, ease of nesting, readability used in both JSON and even XML led to systems that serialize/deserialize to it also influenced the systems to be more simple.
CSV/XLS/binary/BER/DER/ASN.1 etc data exchanging all have more mines in the field than JSON and XML has more than JSON. JSON's killer feature is simplicity and forces you into more simple input/output.
Simplicity is always good when it comes to exchanging data.
The big reason that JSON and even XML were so successful is that parsing from front-end to back-end and the direct use in javascript and APIs for instance is such a simple step, JSON being easier than XML but XML being easier than binary and other formats with more requirements/rules/complexity.
The basic types, ease of nesting, readability used in both JSON and even XML led to systems that serialize/deserialize to it also influenced the systems to be more simple.
CSV/XLS/binary/BER/DER/ASN.1 etc data exchanging all have more mines in the field than JSON and XML has more than JSON. JSON's killer feature is simplicity and forces you into more simple input/output.
Simplicity is always good when it comes to exchanging data.