Adventures in Markdown

NOTE: None of the content here is original.

By now, many of us are familiar with https://commonmark.org/[markdown] and its many flavors and https://github.com/commonmark/commonmark-spec/wiki/List-of-CommonMark-Implementations[parsers]. The most popular parsers include https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/yuin/goldmark[goldmark] in go, https://kramdown.gettalong.org/[kramdown] in ruby, and https://www.npmjs.com/package/markdown-it[markdown-it] in js.

Because we all just love 🤮 javascript, markdown-it is seemingly (I have done no research) the most popular parser. Markdown it is an excellent library, being commonmark compliant, supporting syntax extensions, shipping with a number of https://github.com/markdown-it[first party plugins].

The crowded field of notetaking apps (which usually support markdown), near uniformly use markdown-it with various plugins. This is the case with https://stackedit.io/[stackedit], for example. The feature set of these apps is invariably: markdown notes (pick your favorite plugins), syncing with the cloud provider of your choice (github, gitlab, drive, and dropbox), a slick UI, some kind of editor (WYSIWYG or WYSIWYM). All of which are appreciated, but not enough.

See, as a developer, I’m guaranteed to have an ide with basic markdown support. I don’t want another app replicating the above functionality. In my case, I use VS Code which already has all of the aforementioned features implemented by default, and supports excellent extensions. Why must I install/use yet another electron app / extension / website? VS Code can do it all.

I began installing various markdown extensions, each containing a syntax extension or a piece of functionality I desired. VS Code uses, you guessed it, markdown it, and even has a https://code.visualstudio.com/api/extension-guides/markdown-extension[page on how extensions can extend its functionality]. Hats off to VS Code for going out of its way to be so helpful and extensible. However, each extension was only a part of what I want, and I eventually ended up with a couple dozen markdown extensions. I still didn’t have everything I wanted, and forked an https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=bierner.markdown-emoji[existing extension] with the intention of modding it to add subscripts (I already had an extension providing superscripts).

Then I found https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=jebbs.markdown-extended[an extension] which added nearly every popular markdown-it feature, including keyboard shortcuts for the syntax extensions. From there I added a https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=DavidAnson.vscode-markdownlint[linter], mermaid support, https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=bierner.markdown-shiki[code syntax highlighting], and link:[LaTeX]. Unfortunately, only vscode’s natively supported syntax extensions render accordingly in the md file (WYSIWYM), which means I need the rendered preview (WYSIWYG). I sure your blood is boiling at this point.

My quest to replicate a note app’s features is incomplete. And of course, I want to go beyond that. Nevertheless, I’m satisfied with what I’ve accomplished and surprised that markdown has been extended so thoroughly. I’m considering switch this site from hugo to https://www.11ty.dev/[11ty] to take advantage of all this. https://github.com/yuin/goldmark#extensions[Goldmark's syntax extensions] seem paltry in comparison.