Towards a better BBCode

cairnarvon@feynman:~$ cat hello.txt
Hello {spoiler /prog/}.

What do you think of my {sup new} syntax for {i {sup B}{sub B}code} based on S-expressions? It supports {b.i.u function composition} and {sup*2 iteration {sub*3 (and nesting, obviously)}}. It uses curly braces {m \{\}} rather than the traditional {b (}parentheses{b )} because that will require less escaping.

{aa No more unmatched or misnested tags!}

I've written a {spoiler.i terrible} FIOC {i.m SexpCode-to-BBCode} translator, which you can find here: http://sprunge.us/KPWB?py
cairnarvon@feynman:~$ python sexpcode.py < hello.txt
Hello [spoiler]/prog/[/spoiler].

What do you think of my [sup]new[/sup] syntax for [i][sup]B[/sup][sub]B[/sub]code[/i] based on S-expressions? It supports [b][i][u]function composition[/u][/i][/b] and [sup][sup]iteration [sub][sub][sub](and nesting, obviously)[/sub][/sub][/sub][/sup][/sup]. It uses curly braces [m]{}[/m] rather than the traditional [b]([/b]parentheses[b])[/b] because that will require less escaping.

[aa]No more unmatched or misnested tags![/aa]

I've written a [spoiler][i]terrible[/i][/spoiler] FIOC [i][m]SexpCode-to-BBCode[/m][/i] translator, which you can find here: http://sprunge.us/KPWB?py

Hello /prog/.

What do you think of my ^new syntax for ^B_Bcode based on S-expressions? It supports function composition and ^{iteration _{(and nesting, obviously)}}. It uses curly braces {} rather than the traditional (parentheses) because that will require less escaping.

No more unmatched or misnested tags!

I've written a terrible FIOC SexpCode-to-BBCode translator, which you can find here: http://sprunge.us/KPWB?py

>>58

You've seemed to miss the most important distinction: namely, that people see things, not markup.

There is a difference between this and [#][b]this[/b][#]. Letters are things in themselves, not pictures of things. You're right in that style is inseparable from content, because they are both effects of letterforms. But because of this, your belief -- that telling a browser "what that style should be" is the same thing as "that style" -- is plainly incorrect.

Of course it was clear that you didn't understand the point when you were willing to write something as misguided as "since when was hand-writing intuitive"? Hand-writing is nothing more than mark-making, by a person who is very particular about his marks. I want the page to look a certain way, so I make my marks directly where I feel they must go, onto the surface I'd specifically like changed. My hand is touching the graphite, and physically pressing it into the surface where my letterforms need to go. And with each movement of muscle within my fingers, I can make those letters as heavy or as light as I'd like, and on any axis. Fewer things are as intuitive as this, 58.

Compare that to BBCode. Now I must use letterforms not to make words or style, but to form incantations, wherein I summon the BBCode Arbiter-God. He sits in his kingdom until I have asserted that I would like others to be able to read what I have written, at which point we all wait for his procession, for the great Arbiter to glide in and proof my incantations. At this point, I can do nothing by hope. I hope that he will take what [i]I've done[/i] and replace it with what [i](I think) I wanted[/i]. I hope that I have instructed him correctly, as he is one of those Gods that is very particular about his tradition, and will refuse to overlook a single mistake. And I hope that even my [i]correctly formed[/i] runes will result in the style that I intended to make in the first place. And did I mention? That incantation, in order to work at all, must necessarily be written on the same paper as my speech, using the same pen, mixed in like clumsy cryptography. This is what any text-based formatting system would have us do. And yet, this is the system you would like to keep using, or even "improve." I fear that you've been worshipping false idols for too long. No user should be forced to summon a pagan God in writing just to make a mark. Instead: let him make the mark!