Inlinemerkinnät

Inlinemerkinnät, or inline annotations, refer to notes or metadata inserted directly into a line of text, code, or data stream. They are designed to accompany content without requiring separate sections such as footnotes or endnotes. The term is used in several Finnish technical and scholarly contexts to describe markup that remains within the flow of the primary content.

In programming, inline annotations are typically implemented as inline comments that appear on the same line as code or between code elements, using syntax such as //, #, or /* */ in various languages. In written texts, inline annotations may take the form of parenthetical remarks or bracketed notes within a sentence, used to explain or qualify a claim without breaking the sentence structure. In data or markup contexts, inline annotations can be tokens or tags embedded in content to convey metadata or instructions to tools or processes.

Purposes of inlinemerkinnät include providing clarification, reminders, or metadata; aiding readability and maintainability of code or documents; and supporting tooling such as documentation generators, compilers, or data-labeling pipelines. Limitations include potential clutter, parsing challenges, and the risk of becoming outdated. Effective use requires consistent conventions and alignment with a documented style guide.

See also: inline comments, annotations, in-text citations, TODO markers.