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Why did markdown become popular when we already have html? Because markdown is much easier to write by hand in a simple text editor. Original SGML was actually
by bazoom42 9mo ago
Why did markdown become popular when we already have html? Because markdown is much easier to write by hand in a simple text editor.
Original SGML was actually closer to markdown. It had various options to shorten and simplify the syntax, making it easy to write and edit by hand, while still having an unambiguous structure.
The verbose and explicit structure of xhtml makes it easier to process by tools, but more tedious for humans.
- oneeyedpigeon 9mo agoIs it really that much easier to write `<br>` and know that it isn't a problem, than just write `<br />`?
- barnabee 9mo agoIt’s much easier to have to remember fewer rules and for things to be ok if you get some wrong, yes. Especially for casual users of HTML.
- epgui 9mo agoBad reasoning. “Always close your tags” is a simpler rule (and fewer rules, depending how you count) than “Close your tags, except possibly in situations A, B, C…”.
- intrasight 9mo agoI've been closing my tags for 30 years and I assume that I will for the rest of my days. I like that it validates as XML. Historically I used XSLT a LOT.
- eastbound 9mo agoIt triggers the linters so often. I shall keep my <input> tag open.
- TZubiri 9mo agoBut learning about self closing tags is an additional rule
- wizzwizz4 9mo ago<script /> is invalid HTML, and <img></img> is also invalid HTML. There's no way to avoid knowing HTML syntax.
- deleted 9mo ago[deleted]
- Pxtl 9mo agoImho the real strength of markdown is it forces people to stick to classes instead of styling. "I want to write in red comic Sans" " I don't care, you can't". And markdown tables are harder to write than HTML tables. However, they are generally easier to read. Unless multi line cell.
- jbaber 9mo agoI usually just write html tables, then convert to markdown via pandoc. It's a crazy world we live in.
- nathankleyn 9mo agoPersonally I think Markdown got _really_ popular not because it is easier to write but because it is easier to read. It’s kind of a huge deal that I can give a Markdown file of plain text content to somebody non-technical and they aren’t overwhelmed by it in raw form. HTML fails that same test.
- epolanski 9mo agoOr because it was the default in GitHub with an ad hoc renderer.
- stouset 9mo agoMarkdown has been extremely popular since far before GitHub existed.
- epolanski 9mo agoSure, but it became kind of the default with GitHub taking a lead position in code repository services.
- thrdbndndn 9mo agoI'm sure Markdown was already popular, but I agree with the OP that GitHub made it orders of magnitude more popular. Previously its popularity was somewhat similar to RST.
- singingbard 9mo agoPeople had already ditched writing HTML for years before Markdown came out. People were just using other markup languages like rST. Other attempts had already proven HTML to be a bad language for rough documentation. Someone then just needed to write a spec that was easy to implement and Markdown was that.
- thisislife2 9mo agoUser input data is always to be treated as suspect when it reaches the server and needs to be scanned and sanitised (if necessary) before accepting it for processing. Markdown makes this a lot easier to do and this is why it became popular.