ASCIImerkit

ASCIImerkit is a lightweight, text-based markup language and toolkit designed for creating and processing documents that rely on plain ASCII characters. It aims to balance human readability with machine parseability, making it suitable for environments where rich formatting is unavailable or undesirable.

Origin and scope: ASCIImerkit was developed by an open-source community in the early 2020s as an alternative to more complex markup systems. The project emphasizes portability across platforms and simple tooling that can run in terminals or basic editors.

Syntax and features: The syntax uses plain ASCII and a small set of unambiguous markers to indicate elements such as headings, lists, code blocks, and diagrams. It supports inline emphasis using simple markers, fenced code blocks, and blocks for ASCII diagrams created with fixed-width fonts. Documents can be serialized to plain text while preserving structure; export paths include HTML and lightweight formats.

Tools and usage: Implementations exist as libraries in multiple languages and as command-line utilities. Authoring is designed to work with any basic text editor, and renderers can generate HTML, PDF, or terminal-friendly views. It is commonly used for project READMEs, lightweight documentation, and ASCII art diagrams.

Reception and critique: ASCIImerkit has been praised for its simplicity, predictability, and portability, but some critics note limited expressive power and a smaller ecosystem compared with Markdown or reStructuredText. As a result, it is often chosen for strictly plain-text environments or where ASCII art is a central feature.

See also: plain text markup, lightweight markup languages, ASCII art.