- Lightweight markup language
-
A lightweight markup language is a markup language with a simple syntax, designed to be easy for a human to enter with a simple text editor, and easy to read in its raw form.
Lightweight markup languages are used in applications where people might be expected to read the document source as well as the rendered output. For instance, a person downloading a software library might prefer to read the documentation in a text editor rather than a browser.
Another application is for entry in web-based publishing, such as weblogs and wikis, where the input interface is a simple text box. The server software converts the input to a common document markup language like HTML or XHTML.
Contents
History
Lightweight markup languages were originally used on text-only displays which could not display characters in italics or bold, so informal methods to convey this information had to be developed. This formatting choice was naturally carried forth to plain-text email communications.
1986 international standard SGML provided facilities to define and parse lightweight markup languages using grammars and tag implication. The 1998 W3C XML is a profile of SGML that omits these facilities.
Types
Presentation oriented languages include AsciiDoc, BBCode, Creole, Crossmark, deplate, Epytext, EtText, Haml, JsonML, MakeDoc, Markdown, Org-mode, POD, reStructuredText, Ruby Document format, Setext, SiSU, SPIP, Struxt, Texy!, Textile, txt2tags, UDO and Wikitext.
Data serialization oriented languages include Curl (programming language) (homoiconic, but also reads JSON; every object serializes), JSON, OGDL, Simple Declarative Language and YAML.
Comparison of language features
Comparing language features Language Implementation language or platf. HTML export tool HTML import tool Tables Link titles class attribute id attribute Exportable formats License Asciidoc Python Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes XHTML, LaTeX, PDF, DocBook, EPUB, Man page, etc. GNU GPL BBCode Perl, PHP, C# No No No No No No HTML, XHTML Public Domain Creole PHP, Python, Ruby, JavaScript [1] No No Yes No No No Depends on impl. CC-by-SA 1.0 deplate Ruby Yes No Yes No Yes Yes HTML, LaTeX, DocBook, plain text GPL Markdown Perl (originally), C,[2][3] Python, JavaScript, Haskell,[4] Ruby,[5] C#, Java, PHP.
Features are implementation dependent.Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes HTML originally; depending on the implementation, also LaTeX, RTF, PDF, OpenDocument, DocBook, EPUB, MediaWiki, ReStructuredText, Man page, S5 (file format), etc. BSD-style & GPL (both) Markdown Extra PHP (originally), Python, Ruby Yes Yes Yes[6] Yes No No XHTML BSD-style & GPL (both) MediaWiki Perl, PHP Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes XHTML GNU GPL Org-mode Emacs Lisp, Ruby (parser only), Perl Yes ? Yes Yes ? ? Plain text, HTML, LaTeX, PDF, DocBook, TaskJuggler, Freemind, XOXO, iCalendar GPL PmWiki PHP No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes XHTML 1.0 Transitional GNU GPL POD Perl Yes ? No Yes ? ? HTML, XHTML, XML, Man page, LaTeX, plain text, RTF, DocBook Artistic License, Perl's license reStructuredText Python, Haskell, Java, Yes No Yes Yes Yes auto LaTeX, XML, Man page, HTML (w3c valid), PDF, S5 (file format), ODF Public Domain Textile PHP, Java, Perl, Python, Ruby, ASP, C# Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes XHTML Textile License Texy! PHP, C#; Java in progress Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes XHTML or HTML GNU GPL v2 License txt2tags Python Yes ? Yes[7] Yes ? ? HTML, XHTML, SGML, LaTeX, Lout, Man page, Wikipedia, Google Code Wiki, DokuWiki, MoinMoin, MagicPoint, PageMaker GPL Comparison of lightweight markup language syntax
Text/font-face formatting
Comparing text formatting syntax Language Bold Italic Monospace (teletype) Notes AsciiDoc *bold text*
_italic text_
+monospace text+
Can double operators to ignore special characters (for example **bold _text**
yields bold _text).BBCode [b]bold text[/b]
[i]italic text[/i]
[code]monospace text[/code]
Formatting works across line breaks. Creole **bold text**
//italic text//
{{{monospace text}}}
Triple curly braces are for nowiki which is optionally monospace in Creole (the choice of the implementor). Future Creole additions may introduce double hash marks (##) for monospace. deplate {text style=bold: bold text}
__emphasized text__
''monospace text''
deplate discourages visual formatting. Users who want to format text in a particular style have to define style classes in the given output format (CSS, LaTeX). By default, emphasized text is formatted in italics. Markdown [8] **bold text**
or
__bold text__
*italic text*
or
_italic text_
Non-monospace text
monospace text
more monospace text
Inline `monospaced` text.
Markdown doesn't use bold and italic tags, but rather em
(typically italic) andstrong
(typically bold) tags.
Monospace text is created by indenting that line 4 spaces or one tab character, or enclosing text in backticks:
`monospaces`
.MediaWiki '''bold text'''
''italic text''
<code>monospace text</code>
Org-mode *bold text*
/italic text/
=code= or ~verbatim~
_underlined_ +strike-through+
PmWiki '''bold text'''
''italic text''
@@monospace text@@
POD B<bold text>
I<italic text>
C<monospace text>
Indented text is also shown as monospaced code. reStructuredText **bold text**
*italic text*
``monospace text``
Setext **bold text**
~italic text~
Textile[9] *bold text*
or
**bold text**
_italic text_
or
__italic text__
@monospace text@
Textile uses em
(typically italic) andstrong
(typically bold) tagson single symbols (and
code
tag), andi
andb
tags on double symbols.Texy! **bold text**
*italic text*
or
//italic text//
`monospace text`
Texy uses by default em
(typically italic) andstrong
(typically bold) tags. It is possible to configure library to use another tags.txt2tags **bold text**
//italic text//
``monospace text``
__underlined__ --strike-through--
Section headers
Comparing section header formatting Language Format Notes AsciiDoc = Level 1 Header
== Level 2 Header ==
=== Level 3 Header
or
Level 1 Header ============== Level 2 Header -------------- Level 3 Header ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Close equals signs are optional (ignored if present). Level 1 is document/page title. BBCode Does not support section headers Creole = Level 1 Header
== Level 2 Header ==
=== Level 3 Header
Close equals signs are optional (ignored if present). deplate * Level 1 Header
** Level 2 Header
*** Level 3 Header
deplate's default markup is historically based on EmacsWiki, which in turn is the base for Org-mode. Markdown [8] # Level 1 Header
## Level 2 Header
orLevel 1 Header ============== Level 2 Header --------------
You can optionally "close" the #-style headers with an equal number of #'s. The #-style headers support up to 6 levels. The = and - style headers support only the two shown. MediaWiki == Level 2 Header ==
=== Level 3 Header ===
= is available for level 1 header, but its use is discouraged in Wikipedia (reserved for page title). More = are possible, up to 6. Org-mode Default: * Level 1 Header ** Level 2 Header *** Level 3 Header
Cleaner view using org-indent-view
* Level 1 Header * Level 2 Header * Level 3 Header
PmWiki !! Level 2 Header
!!! Level 3 Header
! is available for level 1 header, but its use is discouraged in PmWiki (used for the page title). More ! are possible, up to 6. POD =head1 Level 1 heading
=head2 Level 2 heading
reStructuredText Chapter 1 Title =============== Section 1.1 Title ----------------- Subsection 1.1.1 Title ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Section 1.2 Title ----------------- Chapter 2 Title ===============
Any of the following characters can be used as the "underline": = - ` : ' " ~ ^ _ * + # < >
. The same character must be used for the same indentation level and may not be used for a new indentation level.Textile[9] h1. Level 1 Header
h2. Level 2 Header
Up to 6 levels Texy! ### Level 1 Header
## Level 2 Header
orLevel 1 Header ============== Level 2 Header --------------
You can optionally "close" the #-style headers with an equal number of #'s. The #-style headers support up to 6 levels. The underlined style headers support four levels (### *** === ----). Resulting absolute levels numbers are calculated dynamically. Optionally, less chars can denote higher header level. txt2tags = Level 1 Header =
== Level 2 Header ==
=== Level 3 Header ===
Up to 6 levels. Using +
characters instead of=
characters creates numbered headers (the default being unnumbered).Link syntax
Comparing link syntax Language Syntax Notes AsciiDoc http://www.example.com
http://www.example.com[Link text]
BBCode [url]http://www.example.com[/url]
[url=http://www.example.com]Link text[/url]
Some BBCode implementations can auto-parse URLs as well and convert them to a
elements.Creole [[Internal Page]]
[[Internal Page|Display Text]]
[[http://www.example.com|Link text]]
[[WikiCreole:Creole1.0|InterWiki Link]]
Free standing URL's are also detected. deplate [[Internal Page]]
[[Internal Page][Display Text]]
[[http://www.example.com][Link text]]
[[WikiCreole::Creole1.0][InterWiki Link]]
Free standing URL's are also detected. The format is close to Org-mode -- see below. Markdown[8] <http://www.example.com>
or
[Link text](http://www.example.com "optional title attribute")
or
[Link text][id]
and elsewhere
[id]: http://www.example.com "optional title attribute"
Allows for an optional title
attribute.MediaWiki [[Internal page]]
[[Internal page|Displayed text]]
[http://www.example.com]
[http://www.example.com External link]
Wikitext can auto-parse URLs as well and convert them to a
elements.Org-mode link format: [[link][description]] or [[link]]
[[My Target][Find my target]]
- text search in current file
[[#my-custom-id]]
- link to custom id
[[http://orgmode.org]]
- external link
[[http://orgmode.org][Org Mode]] - external link with description
[[file:/path/to/some/file]] or [[/path/to/some/file]] or [[./some/file]]
- file system linksPmWiki [[Internal page]]
[[Internal page|Displayed text]]
[[http://www.pmwiki.org]]
[[http://www.Pmwiki.org|External link]]
Wikitext can auto-parse URLs without spaces in them as well and convert them to a
elements.POD L</Internal Link>
L<Perl::Module::Link>
L<http://example.com/external_link>
The core POD standard does not support external links with titles. reStructuredText `Link text <http://www.example.com/>`_
or
Linkname_
and elsewhere
.. _Linkname: http://example.com
Textile[9] "Link text (optional title attribute)":http://www.example.com
or
"Link text":alias
and elsewhere
[alias (optional title attribute)]http://www.example.com
Allows for an optional title
attribute.Texy! "Link text .(optional title)[opt. class or ID]{opt. style}":http://www.example.com
or
"Link text":alias
and elsewhere
[alias]: http://www.example.com .(optional title)[opt. class or ID]{opt. style}
Texy! modifiers allows for an optional title
attribute, CSS classes, ID, inline style and HTML element attributes. Example: "Link .(title)[class#id]{color: blue;rel:nofollow}"txt2tags [Link text www.example.com]
Txt2tags can auto-parse URLs as well and convert them to a
elements. Also has support for targeting references within the same text, not just URLs.See also
References
- ^ WikiCreole: Converters
- ^ peg-markdown is an implementation of markdown in C.
- ^ Discount is also an implementation of markdown in C.
- ^ Pandoc, which is written in Haskell, parses Markdown (in two forms) and ReStructuredText, as well as HTML and LaTeX; it writes from any of these formats to HTML, RTF, LaTeX, OpenDocument, EPUB and several other formats, including (via LaTeX) PDF.
- ^ https://rubyforge.org/projects/kramdown/
- ^ PHP Markdown Extra
- ^ Txt2tags User Guide
- ^ a b c Markdown Syntax
- ^ a b c Textile Syntax
External links
- C2's list
- Curl Markup to replace HTML+CSS+JS
- Inhabitants of the authoring ecosphere
- List at otl website
- Humane Text Formats - A comparison (obsolete)
- Pandoc: a versatile inter-format converter
Application · Content syndication · Document · General purpose · Geographic information · Lightweight · Mathematical · Page description · Playlist · User interface · Vector graphics · Web service · XML · UnclassifiedCategories:- Lightweight markup languages
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