As part of the next version of ZPE, to be released at the end of May, 1.5.4 will include a new XML parser which will be similar to the JSON parser and CSV parser.
This new parser will be available to both Java and ZPE users. The new version also improves the efficiency of the ZPE parser and brings it up to version 1.1 after a big change was brought to it.
The new XML parser will generate a list of elements which themselves are associative arrays. ZPE 1.5.4 also aims to improve the way that associative arrays and lists work, making them more similar in syntax and provides a new object syntax.
ZPE 1.5.4 seems to be the fastest version to date, compilation is done faster than ever, parsing is done quicker than ever and the interpreter also received a little boost recently.
Also, 1.5.4, like 1.5.3, is part of the Port Royal versions, so nothing will change there (what this means is that the syntax is identical for all ZPE installations).
