Comparison of document markup languages
From HandWiki
The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of document markup languages. Please see the individual markup languages' articles for further information.
General information
Basic general information about the markup languages: creator, version, etc.
| Language | First public release date | Creator | Editor | Viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AsciiDoc | 2002 | Stuart Rackham | Text editor | Output to XHTML, HTML, DocBook (which can convert to PDF, EPUB, DVI, LaTeX, roff, and PostScript) |
| Computable Document Format | 2010 | Wolfram Research | Wolfram Language & Mathematica | CDF Player; CDF format can also be embedded in web pages viewable with conventional browsers. |
| Creole | 2007 | Text editor | Output to HTML, RTF, LaTeX, others; renderers for MFC, others. | |
| Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) | 2005 | IBM, OASIS | Text/XML editor | Output to HTML, PDF, CHM, javadoc, others. |
| DocBook | 1992 | The Davenport Group, OASIS | XML editor | Output to HTML, PDF, CHM, javadoc, others. |
| Encoded Archival Description (EAD) | 1998 | Berkeley Project | Text editor | Web browser |
| Extensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML) | 2000 (January 26) | W3C | Text/XML editor, HTML editor | Web browser |
| Halibut | 1999 | Simon Tatham | Text editor | Output to ASCII text, HTML, PDF, PostScript, Unix man pages, GNU Info, Windows Help (.CHM files), Windows WinHelp (old .HLP files) |
| HyperText Markup Language (HTML) | 1993 | Tim Berners-Lee | Text editor, HTML editor | Web browser |
| LilyPond | 1996 | Han-Wen Nienhuys, Jan Nieuwenhuizen | Text editor, Scorewriter | Output to DVI, PDF, PostScript, PNG, others. |
| Maker Interchange Format (MIF) | 1986 | Frame Technology acquired by Adobe Systems in 1995 | Text editor, FrameMaker | FrameMaker |
| MakeDoc | 2000 | Carl Sassenrath | Text editor | Web browser (XHTML or HTML output) |
| Markdown | 2004 | John Gruber and Aaron Swartz | Text editor, E-mail client | Web browser (XHTML or HTML output), preview in gedit-markdown-plugin |
| Textile | 2002[1] | Dean Allen | Text editor | Web browser (XHTML or HTML output), reference and tester (uses latest PHP-Textile version 3.5.5) |
| Math Markup Language (MathML) | 1999 (July) | W3C | Text/XML editor, TeX converter | Web browser, Word processor |
| The Music Encoding Initiative (MEI) | 1999 | The MEI Community | XML editor | Verovio |
| Music Extensible Markup Language (MusicXML) | 2002 | Recordare | Scorewriter | Scorewriter |
| Office Open XML (OOXML) | 2006 | Ecma International, ISO/IEC | Office suite | Office suite |
| OpenDocument Format (ODF) | 2005 | OASIS, ISO/IEC | Office suite | Office suite |
| Open Mathematical Documents (OMDoc) | 2000 | Michael Kohlhase | Text/XML editor[2] | Output to XHTML+MathML, TeX, others. |
| Org-mode | 2003 | Org-mode project | Emacs, text editor | Emacs. Output to HTML, PDF, DocBook, FreeMind, OpenDocument Format (ODF), others. |
| reStructuredText | 2001[3] | David Goodger | Text editor | Output to HTML, LaTeX, PDF, Unix man pages, ODT, S5 (HTML Slide Shows), XML, others. |
| Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) | 2004 | W3C | Vector graphics editor | Web browser, etc. |
| Script GML |
1968 1971 |
IBM | Text editor | GDDM, AFP viewer |
| TeX LaTeX |
1978 1984 |
Donald Knuth Leslie Lamport |
Text editor | DVI or Portable Document Format (PDF) converter |
| Texinfo | 1986 | Richard Stallman | Text editor | output to DVI, Portable Document Format (PDF), HTML, DocBook, others. |
| TeXmacs format | 1998 | Joris van der Hoeven | Text editor/TeXmacs editor | PDF or PostScript files. Converters exist for TeX/LaTeX and XHTML+Mathml |
| Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) | 1990 | Text Encoding Initiative Consortium | Text/XML editor | Web Browser (using XHTML), PDF, Word Processor (using ODF) or EPUB |
| troff (typesetter runoff), groff (GNU runoff) | 1973 | Joe Ossanna | Text editor | groffer, or output to PostScript |
| Wireless Markup Language (WML) | 1999 | WAP Forum | Text/XML editor | Mobile browser |
| Language | First public release date | Creator | Editor | Viewer |
Note: While Rich Text Format (RTF) is human readable, it is not considered to be a markup language and is thus excluded from the table.
Characteristics
Some characteristics of the markup languages.[definition needed]
| Language | Major purpose | Based on | Markup type | Structural markup | Presentational markup[4] | Open format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AsciiDoc | Multi-purpose | Tag | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Computable Document Format | Interactive technical documents, infographics, blogs[5] | Wolfram Language | Tag | Yes | Yes | No |
| Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) | Technical documents | XML | Tag | Yes | Yes[6] | Yes |
| DocBook | Technical documents | SGML / XML | Tag | Yes | Yes[7] | Yes |
| Encoded Archival Description (EAD) | Finding aids | XML | Tag | Yes | No | |
| Extensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML) | Hypertext documents | XML | Tag | Yes | Yes[8] | Yes |
| FictionBook | Multi-purpose | XML | Tag | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Halibut | Technical documents | Control code | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| HyperText Markup Language (HTML) | Hypertext documents | SGML | Tag | Yes | Yes[9] | Yes |
| Lilypond | Music notation | Control code | Yes | Yes | ||
| Maker Interchange Format (MIF) | Technical documents | Tag | Yes | Yes | ||
| Markdown | Formatted Technical documents, Hypertext documents, E-mail | Text E-mail conventions | Tag | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Math Markup Language (MathML) | Mathematical documents | XML | Tag | Yes | Yes[10] | |
| The Music Encoding Initiative (MEI) | Music notation | XML | Tag | Yes | Yes | |
| Music Extensible Markup Language (MusicXML) | Music notation | XML | Tag | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Office Open XML (OOXML) | Multi-purpose | XML / ZIP | Tag | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| OpenDocument Format (ODF) | Multi-purpose | XML / ZIP | Tag | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open Mathematical Document (OMDoc) | Mathematical documents | XML | Tag | Yes[11] | Yes[12] | |
| Org-mode | Multi-purpose (notes, project management, publishing, literate programming) | Text outliner | Tag | Yes | Yes | |
| reStructuredText | Technical and Multi-purpose documents[13] | Structured Text and Setext | Tag | Yes | Yes[14] | Yes |
| Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) | 2D Vector graphics | XML | Tag | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Script GML |
Multi-purpose | RUNOFF | Control code | Yes | Yes | |
| TeX LaTeX |
Academic documents Multi-purpose[15] |
Control code | Yes | Yes | ||
| Texinfo | Technical documents | TeX, Scribe | Control code | Yes | Yes | |
| TeXmacs format | Academic documents | tree | Tag | Yes | Yes | |
| Textile | Hypertext documents | AsciiDoc (based on some similarities and dates of release) | Tag | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) | Academic, linguistic, literary and technical documents | SGML / XML | Tag | Yes | No | |
| troff (typesetter runoff), groff (GNU runoff) | Technical documents | RUNOFF | Control code | Yes | Yes | |
| Wireless Markup Language (WML) | Hypertext documents | XML | Tag | Yes | Yes | |
| Language | Major purpose | Based on | Markup type | Structural markup | Presentational markup | Open format |
Notes
- ↑ "Textism › Tools › Textile". 26 December 2002. http://textism.com/tools/textile/.
- ↑ An Emacs mode and a Mozilla extension are available.
- ↑ "An Introduction to reStructuredText". http://docutils.sourceforge.net/docs/ref/rst/introduction.html#history.
- ↑ Many markup languages have purposely avoided presentational markups. For markup languages based on SGML and XML, CSS is used as a presentation layer.
- ↑ Uses and Examples of the Computable Document Format (CDF), Wolfram.com.
- ↑ Includes basic presentational content and SVG and MathML markup, officially supported in version 1.3. In select XML editors and management systems, the images and content can be viewed as rendered, through CSS mostly.
- ↑ Presentational content is supported through SVG and MathML markup. In select XML editors, the images can be viewed as rendered.
- ↑ Presentational markup is deprecated as of XHTML 1.0 and no longer allowed as of XHTML 1.1
- ↑ Presentational markup is deprecated as of HTML 4.0
- ↑ MathML comes in two mark-up syntaxes: a semantic and a presentational.
- ↑ uses Content MathML, OpenMath or other formats for formulae
- ↑ Exact presentation of symbols can be specified in OMDoc; these specifications are used when transforming OMDoc to a presentational format.
- ↑ "An Introduction to reStructuredText". http://docutils.sourceforge.net/docs/ref/rst/introduction.html#goals.
- ↑ uses CSS
- ↑ While Donald Knuth wrote TeX for Academic publications and Leslie Lamport wrote LaTeX for similar purpose, packages are available from Comprehensive TeX Archive Network (CTAN) for nonacademic purposes, e.g., writing scripts.
See also
- List of document markup languages
- Comparison of Office Open XML and OpenDocument
- Comparison of e-book formats
- Comparison of data serialization formats
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