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Markdown vs Mustache: What are the differences?
Introduction: Markdown and Mustache are both commonly used in web development for formatting and displaying content. While they have some similarities, there are several key differences between the two.
Syntax: Markdown uses a simple and intuitive syntax that focuses on ease of use and readability. It uses symbols like asterisks and hashes to indicate formatting elements such as headers and lists. On the other hand, Mustache uses a logic-less syntax that focuses on data interpolation. It uses double curly braces to indicate placeholders for variables that will be substituted with actual values.
Functionality: Markdown is primarily used for formatting and structuring text-based content. It allows users to create headings, lists, tables, and other text-related elements. Mustache, on the other hand, is a templating language that enables the separation of logic and data from the presentation layer. It allows for dynamic content generation by rendering templates with data values.
Data Binding: Markdown does not provide data binding capabilities. Content written in Markdown is static and cannot be dynamically updated or modified. In contrast, Mustache allows for data binding, enabling the rendering of templates with dynamic data that can be easily updated or changed.
Expressiveness: Markdown is less expressive compared to Mustache. It provides a limited set of formatting options and does not support complex logic or conditional statements. Mustache, on the other hand, allows for more advanced features like conditionals, loops, and filtering that enhance the versatility and dynamic nature of templates.
Template Inheritance: Markdown does not support template inheritance or the concept of extending and modifying existing templates. Each Markdown file is treated as a standalone document. In contrast, Mustache supports template inheritance, allowing the creation of reusable base templates that can be extended and customized by child templates.
Extensibility: Markdown is not extensible by default, meaning there is no built-in way to add custom functionality or modify its behavior. Mustache, on the other hand, provides an open and extensible architecture that allows for the creation of custom helpers, partials, and filters to enhance its functionality and adapt it to specific needs.
In summary, Markdown is a simple and lightweight markup language used for formatting text-based content, while Mustache is a logic-less templating language used for dynamic content generation. Markdown focuses on ease of use, readability, and simplicity, while Mustache provides more advanced features, data binding, template inheritance, and extensibility options.
Pros of Markdown
- Easy formatting345
- Widely adopted246
- Intuitive194
- Github integration132
- Great for note taking41
- Defacto GitHub lingo2
Pros of Mustache
- Dead simple templating29
- Open source12
- Small8
- Support in lots of languages1
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Cons of Markdown
- Cannot centralise (HTML code needed)2
- Inconsistend flavours eg github, reddit, mmd etc1
- Limited syntax1
- Not suitable for longer documents1
- Non-extensible1
- No right indentation1
- No underline1
- Unable to indent tables1