Comparison of document markup languages

Last updated

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.

Contents

General information

Basic general information about the markup languages: creator, version, etc.

Language First public release dateCreatorEditor Viewer
AsciiDoc 2002Stuart 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) 2005IBM, OASIS Text/XML editor Output to HTML, PDF, CHM, javadoc, others.
DocBook 1992The Davenport Group, OASIS XML editor Output to HTML, PDF, CHM, javadoc, others.
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) 1998Berkeley 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 Text editor, E-mail client Web browser (XHTML or HTML output), preview in gedit-markdown-plugin
Math Markup Language (MathML) 1999 (July) W3C Text/XML editor, TeX converter Web browser, Word processor
The Music Encoding Initiative (MEI) 1999The MEI Community XML editor Verovio
Music Extensible Markup Language (MusicXML) 2002Recordare Scorewriter Scorewriter
MyST Markdown 2019ExecutableBooks team Text editor Output to Word processor, LaTeX, PDF, Markdown.
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 [1] Output to XHTML+MathML, TeX, others.
Org-mode 2003Org-mode project Emacs, text editor Emacs. Output to HTML, PDF, DocBook, FreeMind, OpenDocument Format (ODF), others.
reStructuredText 2001 [2] 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
Textile 2002 [3] Dean Allen Text editor Web browser (XHTML or HTML output), reference and tester (uses latest PHP-Textile version 3.5.5)
Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) 1990Text 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 dateCreatorEditor 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 ]

LanguageMajor purposeBased onMarkup typeStructural markupPresentational markup [4] Open format
AsciiDoc Multi-purposeTagYesYesYes
Computable Document Format Interactive technical documents, infographics, blogs [5] Wolfram Language TagYesYesNo
Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) Technical documents XML TagYesYes [6] Yes
DocBook Technical documents SGML / XML TagYesYes [7] Yes
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Finding aids XML TagYesNo
Extensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML) Hypertext documents XML TagYesYes [8] Yes
FictionBook Multi-purpose XML TagYesYesYes
Halibut Technical documentsControl codeYesYesYes
HyperText Markup Language (HTML) Hypertext documents SGML TagYesYes [9] Yes
Lilypond Music notation Control codeYesYes
Maker Interchange Format (MIF) Technical documentsTagYesYes
Markdown Formatted Technical documents, Hypertext documents, E-mail Text E-mail conventionsTagYesYesYes
Math Markup Language (MathML) Mathematical documents XML TagYesYes [10]
The Music Encoding Initiative (MEI) Music notation XML TagYesYes
Music Extensible Markup Language (MusicXML) Music notation XML TagYesYesYes
Office Open XML (OOXML) Multi-purpose XML / ZIP TagYesYesYes
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Multi-purpose XML / ZIP TagYesYesYes
Open Mathematical Document (OMDoc) Mathematical documents XML TagYes [11] Yes [12]
Org-mode Multi-purpose (notes, project management, publishing, literate programming)Text outlinerTagYesYes
reStructuredText Technical and Multi-purpose documents [13] Structured Text and SetextTagYesYes [14] Yes
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 2D Vector graphics XML TagYesYesYes
Script
GML
Multi-purpose RUNOFF Control codeYesYes
TeX
LaTeX
Academic documents
Multi-purpose [15]
Control codeYesYes
Texinfo Technical documents TeX, Scribe Control codeYesYes
TeXmacs format Academic documents tree TagYesYes
Textile Hypertext documentsAsciiDoc (based on some similarities and dates of release)TagYesYesYes
Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) Academic, linguistic, literary and technical documents SGML / XML TagYesNo
troff (typesetter runoff), groff (GNU runoff) Technical documents RUNOFF Control codeYesYes
Wireless Markup Language (WML) Hypertext documents XML TagYesYes
LanguageMajor purposeBased onMarkup typeStructural markupPresentational markup Open format

Notes

  1. An Emacs mode and a Mozilla extension are available.
  2. "An Introduction to reStructuredText". docutils.sourceforge.net. 2 April 2022.
  3. "Textism › Tools › Textile". 26 December 2002. Archived from the original on 26 December 2002.
  4. Many markup languages have purposely avoided presentational markups. For markup languages based on SGML and XML, CSS is used as a presentation layer.
  5. Uses and Examples of the Computable Document Format (CDF), Wolfram.com.
  6. 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.
  7. Presentational content is supported through SVG and MathML markup. In select XML editors, the images can be viewed as rendered.
  8. Presentational markup is deprecated as of XHTML 1.0 and no longer allowed as of XHTML 1.1
  9. Presentational markup is deprecated as of HTML 4.0
  10. MathML comes in two mark-up syntaxes: a semantic and a presentational.
  11. uses Content MathML, OpenMath or other formats for formulae
  12. Exact presentation of symbols can be specified in OMDoc; these specifications are used when transforming OMDoc to a presentational format.
  13. "An Introduction to reStructuredText". docutils.sourceforge.net. 2 April 2022.
  14. uses CSS
  15. 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