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In my opinion, markdown is a document format not unlike Rich Text Format (RTF). I want a program to read it, style it and let me edit it the way it's intended t

In my opinion, markdown is a document format not unlike Rich Text Format (RTF). I want a program to read it, style it and let me edit it the way it's intended to be read. I don't want to see the code unless the program is getting in my way. I'm sure everybody's come across a text editor that insists you meant to indent that next bullet point and gets very stubborn when you want to do something different. That's what I like about Typora. I don't have to think about the code until I want to do something the program doesn't want me to do. When that happens, I can switch to code view and make it do exactly what I want it to do. Then I switch back WYSIWG mode and keep going.

nickjj 7y ago
If you use a live preview plugin with your code editor you can choose not to look at the code and focus on the rendering of it in a browser.
- ScottFree 7y ago
  Why would I do that when I can edit the rendered version directly?
  - nickjj 7y ago
    One benefit I guess is you don't need a dedicated program and you can continue using your code editor. You also have full control of what the render looks like (which is helpful for GitHub READMEs). Also with Vim (I can't speak for other editors) it has the option of concealing the markdown characters themselves so it looks more like a rendering of it. I don't use that personally but if you prefer not seeing the noise of backticks for code blocks or double asterisks for bold you can hide it.
    - ScottFree 7y ago
      You don't seem to be getting the point. Vim is for code. Typora is for documents. They are different tools tailored specifically for different jobs. You wouldn't use microsoft word to write code, would you? If you like vim and want to use it for markdown, that's great. I personally like a more specialized tool. Then again, I'm also a writer and spend more time in that mode than most programmers. If you spend all your time programming and only occasionally need to write a markdown document, then I can see the appeal of the setup you're describing.
      - nickjj 7y ago
        I spend about 50% of my time programming and 50% writing. I often deal with 300,000+ word markdown files because part of what I do for a living is write technical courses. I've written about a million words of markdown over the last ~5 years.
        ScottFree 7y ago
        ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ different strokes for different folks, man. Most of what I write is fiction. Some of that fiction also serves as functional requirement documents. :D

nickjj 7y ago

If you use a live preview plugin with your code editor you can choose not to look at the code and focus on the rendering of it in a browser.

ScottFree 7y ago
Why would I do that when I can edit the rendered version directly?
- nickjj 7y ago
  One benefit I guess is you don't need a dedicated program and you can continue using your code editor. You also have full control of what the render looks like (which is helpful for GitHub READMEs). Also with Vim (I can't speak for other editors) it has the option of concealing the markdown characters themselves so it looks more like a rendering of it. I don't use that personally but if you prefer not seeing the noise of backticks for code blocks or double asterisks for bold you can hide it.
  - ScottFree 7y ago
    You don't seem to be getting the point. Vim is for code. Typora is for documents. They are different tools tailored specifically for different jobs. You wouldn't use microsoft word to write code, would you? If you like vim and want to use it for markdown, that's great. I personally like a more specialized tool. Then again, I'm also a writer and spend more time in that mode than most programmers. If you spend all your time programming and only occasionally need to write a markdown document, then I can see the appeal of the setup you're describing.
    - nickjj 7y ago
      I spend about 50% of my time programming and 50% writing. I often deal with 300,000+ word markdown files because part of what I do for a living is write technical courses. I've written about a million words of markdown over the last ~5 years.
      - ScottFree 7y ago
        ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ different strokes for different folks, man. Most of what I write is fiction. Some of that fiction also serves as functional requirement documents. :D