Glen Whitney
5a1f9e044a
Now reiterates significantly less code from the simple plugin. Also, adjusted the default for extract_standard_markdown when copy_standard_markdown is true. |
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mkdocs_semiliterate | ||
tests | ||
.drone.yml | ||
.gitignore | ||
LICENSE | ||
mkdocs.yml | ||
pyproject.toml | ||
README.md | ||
setup.cfg |
MkDocs semiliterate Plugin
This plugin for MkDocs is an extension of Allison Thackston's excellent mkdocs-simple-plugin. It adds {! ... !}
syntax for including content from one file into another (and a couple of other small ease-of-use tweaks).
Rationale
Time and trends have not validated Knuth's original vision of "literate programming" as a mainstream practice. Nevertheless, there remain significant advantages to incorporating all documentation, including user-guide-style narrative, into the source code for a project. These advantages include ease of maintenance and synchronization of code and documentation, and opportunities to make the ensemble of your code and documentation more DRY. Thus, it's worth using a "semiliterate" programming style, in which: code is arranged as dictated by best software engineering practices; documentation is co-located in the same files next to the implementing code; and tools are provided for extracting and assembling that documentation into readable form.
*[DRY]: Don't Repeat Yourself -- a coding philosophy of creating a single authoritative location for each piece of information.
The mkdocs-simple-plugin goes a long way toward creating a semiliterate programming environment. However, in creating narrative documentation, it's very useful to be able to quote or incorporate content -- whether that be documentation blocks or code examples -- from one file into another. To satisfy that need, this semiliterate
plugin extends (i.e, literally inherits from) the simple
plugin and adds a syntax for such inclusion.
With a few other small ease-of-use tweaks (documented in the Usage section), this extended plugin aims to produce a lightweight but comprehensive semiliterate programming environment. The documentation site is, of course, produced by MkDocs using the semiliterate plugin.
License
This software is licensed under Apache 2.0.