--- AnyEvent-MP/MP.pm	2009/08/13 01:16:24	1.45
+++ AnyEvent-MP/MP.pm	2009/08/13 01:57:10	1.47
@@ -857,6 +857,41 @@
 
 =back
 
+=head1 RATIONALE
+
+=over 4
+
+=item Why strings for ports and noderefs, why not objects?
+
+We considered "objects", but found that the actual number of methods
+thatc an be called are very low. Since port IDs and noderefs travel over
+the network frequently, the serialising/deserialising would add lots of
+overhead, as well as having to keep a proxy object.
+
+Strings can easily be printed, easily serialised etc. and need no special
+procedures to be "valid".
+
+And a a miniport consists of a single closure stored in a global hash - it
+can't become much cheaper.
+
+=item Why favour JSON, why not real serialising format such as Storable?
+
+In fact, any AnyEvent::MP node will happily accept Storable as framing
+format, but currently there is no way to make a node use Storable by
+default.
+
+The default framing protocol is JSON because a) JSON::XS is many times
+faster for small messages and b) most importantly, after years of
+experience we found that object serialisation is causing more problems
+than it gains: Just like function calls, objects simply do not travel
+easily over the network, mostly because they will always be a copy, so you
+always have to re-think your design.
+
+Keeping your messages simple, concentrating on data structures rather than
+objects, will keep your messages clean, tidy and efficient.
+
+=back
+
 =head1 SEE ALSO
 
 L<AnyEvent>.