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Written in XML?! That's the first I've heard. Though also a fine proof that what you're writing is much more important than how you're writing it. (Still, thou
by girzel 11y ago
Written in XML?! That's the first I've heard. Though also a fine proof that what you're writing is much more important than how you're writing it.
(Still, though -- XML?)
- insertnickname 11y agoWhy not XML? XML was made for documents, they were writing a document.
- girzel 11y agoFor an actual typing-on-the-keyboard format, it seems like almost anything would have been better, particularly given the number of markup languages that can translate trivially into XML. I may have misunderstood -- he was actually typing in XML tags as he wrote the book, right?
- rsc 11y agoYes, they did. I saw the XML and it didn't look much different from well-written HTML. The amount of markup you need for a book is fairly minimal: h1, h2, p, b, i, c (code font), ix (index entry). Think of it as a customizable HTML.
- Sharlin 11y agoXML may have been made for documents but it is certainly one of the worst language families ever for actually typing documents by hand.
- insertnickname 11y agoWhat would you use instead that would allow you to define your own markup? LaTeX? \em{Hello} isn't much better than <em>Hello</em>.
- vbezhenar 11y agoMillions of websites are made with writing HTML by hand and it's certainly not that bad.
- tptacek 11y agoYou don't have to write the XML tags while you type. The hardest part about writing long-form technical prose is writing long-form technical prose. You can concentrate on getting that right, in the editor of your choosing, using placeholders for diagrams and layout elements. Then, in a second pass, mark the text up.
- clebio 11y agoIndeed. And it's odd no one's mentioned Pandoc yet.
- jdeisenberg 11y agoAlso, XML + XSLT gives you the capability to easily transform your original to other formats.
- Shorel 11y agoXML is awful in a time before ZenCoding/Emmet. Now, not so much. dog>cat*3
- tombert 11y agoI agree that ZenCoding has greatly simplified XML development, but I find that even with it you're still beholden to ugliness when trying to edit it.