Help escaping characters and parsing JSON for a Gist client.

local url = "https://api.github.com/gists"
--convert a table into json notation recursively
local encodeTable
encodeTable = function(t)
  local quot = "\""
  local s = "{"
  for k,v in pairs(t) do
   k = quot..k..quot
    if type(v) == "table" then
	 s = s..k..":"..encodeTable(v)..","
    elseif #tostring(v) > 0 then
	 if v == true or v == false then
	  v = tostring(v)
	 else
	  v = quot..v..quot
	 end
	 s = s..k..":"..v..","
    end
  end
  s = s:sub(1,s:len()-1)
  return s .."}"
end
--remove unnecessary \":s and convert boolea and numeric values to appropriate types
local sanitaze = function(s)
if s:sub(1,1) == "\"" then
  s = s:sub(2,s:len())..""
end
if s:sub(s:len(),s:len()) == "\"" then
  s = s:sub(1,s:len()-1)..""
end
if s == "true" then return true end
if s == "false" then return false end
if tonumber(s) ~= nil then return tonumber(s) end
return s
end
--escape characters
local contentEncode = function(s)
s = s:gsub("\\\"","\\\\\\\"")
s = s:gsub("\\\'","\\\\\\\'")
s = s:gsub("\"","\\\"")
s = s:gsub("\n","\\n")
s = s:gsub("\t","\\t")
s = s:gsub("\'","\\\'")
return s
end
--parse the json response to a table recursively
--will fail for some content
local parseHTTPresp
parseHTTPresp = function(resp)
local t = {}
local i = 1
local j = 1
local len = resp:len()
local var
--remove { and }
resp = resp:sub(2,resp:len()-1)..""
while i ~= nil do
  j = 1
  i = resp:find(":")
  if i == nil then break end
  var = sanitaze(resp:sub(j,i-1))
  if resp:sub(i+1,i+1) == "{" then
   -- find matching }
   local n = 1
   local k = i+2
   while n > 0 do
    if resp:sub(k,resp:len()):match("[{}]") == "{" then
	 n = n+1
	 k = resp:sub(k,resp:len()):find("{")+1
    else
	 n = n-1
	 k = resp:sub(k,resp:len()):find("}")+1
    end
   end
   t[var] = parseHTTPresp(resp:sub(i+1,k-1).."")
   i = k+1
   resp = resp:sub(i,len)..""
   len = resp:len()
  else
   j = resp:sub(i,len):find(",")
   if j == nil then j = len+1 end
   t[var] = sanitaze(resp:sub(i+1,j-1))
   i = j+1
   resp = resp:sub(i,len)..""
   len = resp:len()
  end
end
return t
end
-- default parameters for POST
local putvars = {}
putvars["description"] = ""
putvars["public"] = true
putvars["files"] = {}

-- get json notation from the POST variables
putvars.data = function(self)
local q = "\""
local s = "{"
s = s..q.."description"..q..":"..q..self["description"]..q..","
s = s..q.."public"..q..":"..tostring(self["public"])..","
s = s..q.."files"..q..":"..encodeTable(self["files"])
s = s.."}"
return s
end

local printUsage = function()
print("Usage:")
print("gist get <id>")
print("gist put <filename>")
end
local args = {...}
local mode
if not http then
print( "gist requires http API" )
print( "Set enableAPI_http to 1 in mod_ComputerCraft.cfg" )
return
end
if #args ~= 2 then
printUsage()
return
end
if args[1] == "get" then
mode = "get"
elseif args[1] == "put" then
mode = "put"
else
printUsage()
return
end
if mode == "get" then

local id = args[2]
local resp = http.get(url.."/"..id)
if resp ~= nil then
  --print("Success with code "..tostring(resp.getResponseCode()).."!")
  local sresp = resp.readAll()
  resp.close()
  local data = parseHTTPresp(sresp)
  --iterate over the files (there can be several in one gist)
  for key, value in pairs(data["files"]) do
   local file = value["filename"]
   local path = shell.resolve(file)
   local confirm = true
   if fs.exists(path) then
    term.write("File "..file.." already exists. Overwrite? [y/n] ")
    local inp = io.read():lower()
    if inp ~= "y" then
	 print("Skipping file: "..file)
	 confirm = false
    else
	 print("Overwriting file: "..file)
    end
   end
   if confirm then
    --download raw url so we do not need to parse content
    --I want to get rid of this
    local raw = http.get(value["raw_url"])
    if raw == nil then print("Unable to load contents of "..file.."!") return end
    local f = fs.open(path,"w")
    f.write(raw.readAll())
    f.close()
    raw.close()
    print("File "..file.." downloaded!")
   end
  end
else
  print("Failed to download gist with id "..id.."!")
  return
end
elseif mode == "put" then
local file = args[2]
local path = shell.resolve(file)
if not fs.exists(path) then
  print("No such file!")
  return
end
print("Give a description for the gist. (Can be blank)")
putvars["description"] = io.read()
local f = fs.open(path,"r")
local files = {}
files[file] = {}
files[file]["content"] = contentEncode(f.readAll())
f.close()
putvars["files"] = files
local resp = http.post(url,putvars:data())
if resp ~= nil then
  --print("Success with code "..tostring(resp.getResponseCode()).."!")
  local data = parseHTTPresp(resp.readAll())
  resp.close()
  print("Uploaded. Gist id: "..tostring(data["id"])..".")
  print("Available for viewing at https://gist.github.com/"..tostring(data["id"]))
else
  print("Failed to upload gist.")
end
end