commonmark-java VS flexmark-java

On the plus side, the new markdown syntax is based on CommonMark, and there's an open source CommonMark library for Java. That said, I don't know how difficult it would be to extend it to support Reddit-specific extensions.

Today I tried to build a project with commonmark-java. Here is the repo j143/markdown-testing

I developed KeenWrite[0] with similar ideas to mdbook: typeset into PDF from Markdown. Technically, this happens in three stages. First, the Markdown is converted to XHTML. Second, the XHTML is converted to TeX commands. Third, the ConTeXt typesetting system produces a PDF file. Both the GUI and CLI can export to PDF.[1]

Like mdbook, the themes are isolated. Instead of CSS, KeenWrite themes are written in ConTeXt. There are several example starter themes.[2] A "thesis" theme would be a nice addition, but there's a problem.

Markdown lacks a standard for cross-references and citations. An open KeenWrite issue animates a possible UX solution.[3] The topic of references/citations has been discussed on CommonMark[4] without much movement. Parsing cross-references and citations would benefit flexmark-java[5] integrations. KeenWrite uses flexmark-java, but I'm otherwise unaffiliated. If anyone is interested in helping, reach out (see profile).

[0]: https://keenwrite.com/

[1]: https://gitlab.com/DaveJarvis/KeenWrite/-/blob/main/docs/cmd...

[2]: https://gitlab.com/DaveJarvis/keenwrite-themes/

[3]: https://gitlab.com/DaveJarvis/KeenWrite/-/issues/145

[4]: https://talk.commonmark.org/t/cross-references-and-citations...

[5]: https://github.com/vsch/flexmark-java

Nowadays, most application documentation is moved onto a website, which forces users to switch to a web browser every time they want to read some basic documentation. Furthermore, docs on the web can become quite convoluted, resulting in additional times spent just looking for the right section. But as it turns out, using the JavaFX WebView, Flexmark, AtlantaFX Popovers, and for example GitHub Markdown CSS, you can achieve a fancy markdown display within your application at exactly the place you want:

KeenWrite is my free and open-source cross-platform desktop text editor that allows users to write pose using variables defined in a separate file. A few highlights:

* Uses flexmark-java[1] to render Markdown as HTML.

* Extends flexmark-java to support Pandoc’s ::: fenced div syntax.

* Supports plain text diagrams via Kroki[2].

* Computes statistics (word count, word frequencies).

* Performs real-time spell checking.

* Integrates the R programming language.

* Includes a subset of TeX for math.

* Exports to XHTML with TeX as either SVG or inline markup.

* Exports to PDF using the ConTeXt[3] typesetting software and a variety of starter themes.

* Converts straight quotes to curly quotes using KeenQuotes, automagically.

See the screenshots[4] for details.

[1]: https://github.com/vsch/flexmark-java/

[2]: https://kroki.io/

[3]: https://www.contextgarden.net/

[4]: https://github.com/DaveJarvis/keenwrite/blob/master/docs/scr...