Lightweight markup language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A lightweight markup language is a markup language with a simple syntax, designed to be easy for a human to enter with a simple text editor, and easy to read in its raw form.
Lightweight markup languages are used in applications where people might be expected to read the document source as well as the rendered output. For instance, a person downloading a software library might prefer to read the documentation in a text editor rather than a browser.
Another application is for entry in web-based publishing, such as weblogs and wikis, where the input interface is a simple text box. The server software converts the input to a common document markup language like HTML or XHTML.
[edit] History
Lightweight markup languages were originally used on text-only displays. The displays could not display characters in italics or bold and so informal methods to convey this information had to be displayed.
This formatting choice was naturally carried forth to plain-text email communications.
