Embracing ordered rather than named parameters can make this so much cleaner (that’s why most folks would prefer add(1, 2) to {"function":"add", "augend": 1, "addend": 2}). It’s strange that p2 comes before p1.
["line",{"x":34,"y":44},{"x":141,"y":85}]
["line",[34,44],[141,85]]
[line,[34,44],[141,85]]
[line, [34, 44], [141, 85]]
[line [34 44] [141 85]]
(line (34 44) (141 85))
sxp•14h ago
Another format to look at is Markdeep which has support for rendering ASCII diagrams and is very close to plain text: https://casual-effects.com/markdeep/features.md.html
Personally, I just wrote a thin wrapper around the somewhat verbose JS Canvas API that lets me write code such as
when I want to draw diagrams in my Markdeep notes.akkartik•10h ago
As I said at the start of OP, I want to draw by doodling. So writing code would seem to be disqualified.
> Why use a new format instead of SVG or JS+canvas? It avoids reinventing the wheel and a webbrower is installed on almost every computer with a display.
My goal is to move off browsers. Reinventing the wheel can also often be a good thing.
I do have tools to export documents to html/markdown/SVG: https://git.sr.ht/~akkartik/lines2.love#associated-tools But I myself am trying to live outside the browser as much as possible.
akkartik•10h ago
(I do love that Markdeep is a single file of js without the ubiquitous pox of 1k-line package-lock.json!)
eadmund•5h ago
Because those are both hellaciously complex, and implementing a usable fraction of the functionality of either is not a job for a single hobbyist programmer. At least, I don’t think they are — I could be wrong. Even if I am, the number of programmers who can write code to draw a line given a JSON description has to be orders of magnitude of orders of magnitude larger than the number who can write an XML parser, an SVG implementation, a Javascript parser and runtime or a canvas implementation.
xigoi•5h ago
https://tinyvg.tech/
eadmund•2h ago
akkartik•44m ago