[Pmwiki-users] comment on '''''markup'''''

J. Meijer commentgg
Thu Jul 8 08:34:32 CDT 2004


I think the '''''markup''''' is historically logical because **bold** and
//italics// would require two versions:

  //**bold-italics**//
or
  **//italic-bolds//**

Whereas '''''markup''''' requires just one.
Though we have two :-)

Wiki's probably surged from the need to document program source-code, as
they allow embedded documentation. So any markup had to be compatible? So
the single letter combinations of the above are unfortunate:

  /*italic-bolds*/
and
  */bold-italics/*

Because they are common C-code markup for comments. So the //**..**//
variations may also be undesirable for the same motive: they do not allow
the markup to exist within a program source file.


These motives behind the '''''markup''''' are no longer valid. I don't want
to bash the syntax (pmwiki allows me to choose the format I want), it's just
that I think **..** and //..// are no-brainers which newcomers to the wiki
already know how to recognize and type. So **I** don't want them to invest
in learning a new markup before using my site. After all, they don't share
the needs of programmers locked into self-centric document formats.

Maybe someday I'll start writing code in a wiki. But then code will be
exported from the wiki to a compiler-compatible source file. Pmwiki makes
this easy too, just load a script that extracts the program text. I just
don't use the wiki now because the text-box makes for an inferior
programmers editor. Not being a vim or emacs user. The future will change
that of course.

I could even take a page, edit it and save it as a 'previous version' of
whatever the future version of the page will be. So I can have a different
versions of the file with no OOP at all. A special version of the patch
program would of course have to be installed. An editor that does this
already exists (Leo), but it is yet another example of what wikis with a
little effort are capable of.

-jm




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