--- a/configuration/config.py	Mon Mar 26 16:54:37 2012 -0700
+++ b/configuration/config.py	Mon Mar 26 17:00:12 2012 -0700
@@ -145,13 +145,18 @@
 __all__ += [i.__name__ for i in types.values()]
 
 class Configuration(object):
-    options = {}
+    """declarative configuration object"""
+
+    options = {} # configuration basis
 
     def __init__(self, configuration_providers=configuration_providers, types=types):
         self.config = {}
         self.configuration_providers = configuration_providers
         self.types = types
 
+    ### methods for iteration
+    ### TODO: make this a real iterator
+
     def items(self):
         # TODO: allow options to be a list of 2-tuples
         return self.options.items()
@@ -262,10 +267,12 @@
 
     def serialize(self, filename, format=None):
         """serialize configuration to a file"""
+        # TODO: allow file object vs file name
 
     def deserialize(self, filename, format=None):
         """load configuration from a file"""
+        # TODO: allow file object vs file name
 
-        extension = os.path.splitext(filename)[-1]
-        if not extension:
-            return None
+        if not format:
+            extension = os.path.splitext(filename)[-1]
+