Howdy,
I've been thinking a lot about definition list syntax, and what I did
and didn't like about the PHP Markdown Extra syntax (which seems to be
a de-facto standard, discount notwithstanding, yes?). What I came up
with is a single character change to the PHP Markdown Extra syntax. I
just published a detailed explanation of my thoughts and reasoning for
this on [my blog](http://justatheory.com/computers/markup/modest-markdown-proposal.html
). If you would excuse the temerity of my late entry into what I'm
sure has been a contentious issue, I would love feedback.
In a nutshell, I embrace the PHP Markdown Extra syntax, with one
change: I would like to see the colon replaced with a tilde (for
backwards compatibility, both should be supported). That means that a
simple definition list would look like this:
Apple:
~ Pomaceous fruit of plants of the genus Malus in the family
Rosaceae.
~ An american computer company.
Orange:
~ The fruit of an evergreen tree of the genus Citrus.
And a more complicated one would look like this:
Term 1:
~ This is a definition with two paragraphs. Lorem ipsum
dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aliquam
hendrerit mi posuere lectus.
Vestibulum enim wisi, viverra nec, fringilla in, laoreet
vitae, risus.
~ Second definition for term 1, also wrapped in a paragraph
because of the blank line preceding it.
Term 2:
~ This definition has a code block, a blockquote and a list.
code block.
> block quote
> on two lines.
1. first list item
2. second list item
See my blog entry for more detailed description of why I prefer the
tilde to the colon for this purpose. The best things about it are that
it makes for a more natural bullet, already has precedent in
dictionaries, and suggest equivalency if you're familiar with
mathematics, which makes for a nice mnemonic.
Comments? Has this ship already sailed?
Best,
David
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