this post was submitted on 23 Jul 2026
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Virgin Markdown, HTML vs chad plain Text (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 1 week ago by r1ck@sh.itjust.works to c/memes@lemmy.world
70 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Change my mind.

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[–] Fmstrat@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

the things which are added to plaintext to make HTML make parsing simpler for the computer and more difficult for the human

This is the crux of where we disagree. <title> exists to be human readable. A machine would be happier with a binary identifier.

A human does not need additional training to utilize every character in a Markdown file

Uhh ask any non-tech person to write a markdown file. This simply is not true.

A header 2 tag (h2) in HTML requires no more training than a header 2 tag (##) in Markdown. They both exist to make it easier for a human to dictate to a machine what should happen.

[–] ilinamorato@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

<title> exists to be human readable.

The text within <title> exists to be human readable, but the tag itself exists so that the browser application knows what to put in the title bar.

Uhh ask any non-tech person to write a markdown file. This simply is not true.

Write, sure. But I meant read.

A header 2 tag (h2) in HTML requires no more training than a header 2 tag (##) in Markdown.

I did mention that that was one of the more bilaterally semantic parts of the language, alongside emphasis and strong tags. But I still think the ## is easier for a regular user to understand.

[–] Fmstrat@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

If <title> isn't intended to be human readable, why not use \0 instead? Every tag could be 2-3 characters, saving space and increasing machine processing speed.

[–] ilinamorato@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

This is the entire argument I'm making. HTML makes compromises that makes it harder for the human to read and also harder (or at least less optimal) for the machine to read. Markdown codifies an existing human-readable format in a way that a machine can handle easily, too.