Comparison of lightweight markup languages

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This article provides a basic feature comparison for several lightweight markup languages.

1 Comparison of Syntax
2 Comparison of language features

[edit] Comparison of Syntax

[edit] Text/font-face formatting

Comparing text formatting syntax
Language	Bold	Italic	Monospace (Teletype)	Notes
Almost Free Text	`_bold text_`	`''italic text''`	`\|monospace text\|`	Formatting will not occur across line breaks unless the first formatting character is the first character on the line.
BBCode	`[b]bold text[/b]`	`[i]italic text[/i]`	`[code]monospace text[/code]`	Formatting works across line breaks.
Markdown	`bold text` or `__bold text__`	`italic text` or `_italic text_`	`Non-monospace text` `monospace text` `more monospace text`	Markdown doesn't use bold and italic tags, but rather `em` (typically italic) and `strong` (typically bold) tags. Monospace text is created by indenting that line 4 spaces or one tab character, there is no way of doing inline monospaced text.
ReStructured Text	`bold text`	`italic text`	``monospace text``
Textile	`bold text`	`_italic text_`	`<code>monospace text</code>`	Textile doesn't use bold and italic tags, but rather `em` (typically italic) and `strong` (typically bold) tags.

[edit] Section headers

Comparing section header formatting
Language	Format	Notes
Almost Free Text	`* Level 1 Header` `** Level 2 Header`	Up to 4 levels
BBCode		Does not support section headers
Markdown	`# Level 1 Header` `## Level 2 Header` or `Level 1 Header` `==============` `Level 2 Header` `--------------`	You can optionally "close" the #-style headers with an equal number of #'s. The #-style headers support up to 6 levels. The = and - style headers support only the two shown.
ReStructured Text	`Chapter 1 Title` `===============` `Section 1.1 Title` `-----------------` `Subsection 1.1.1 Title` `~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` `Section 1.2 Title` `-----------------` `Chapter 2 Title` `===============`	Any of the following characters can be used as the "underline": = - ` : ' " ~ ^ _ * + # < >. The same character must be used for the same indentation level and may not be used for a new indentation level.
Textile	`h1. Level 1 Header` `h2. Level 2 Header`	Up to 6 levels

[edit] Link Syntax

Comparing link syntax
Language	Syntax	Notes
Almost Free Text	`[Link text (http://www.example.com)]`	Also has support for targeting references within the same text, not just URLs.
BBCode	`[url]http://www.example.com[/url]` `[url=http://www.example.com]Link text[/url]`	Some BBCode implementations can auto-parse URLs as well and convert them to `a` elements.
Markdown	`[Link text](http://www.example.com "optional title attribute")`	Allows for an optional `title` attribute.
ReStructured Text	`Link text <http://www.example.com/>`_	Can also be done in a non-embedded format which may be seen as more readable.
Textile	`"Link text":http://www.example.com`

[edit] Comparison of language features

A lot of this was taken from http://bluebones.net/2005/02/humane-text-formats/

Comparing language features
Language	HTML export tool	HTML import tool	Tables	Link titles	class attribute	id attribute	Exportable formats	License
Almost Free Text	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	HTML, LaTeX, lout, DocBook, RTF	Clarified Artistic License
BBCode	No	No	No	No	No	No	?	?
Markdown	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	XHTML	BSD-style
ReStructured Text	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	auto	Latex, XML, PseduoXML, HTML	Python
Textile	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	XHTML	Textile License