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A notation for writing trees and a parser for it

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Brashtag – A notation for writing trees and a parser for it

by pratikdeoghare·May 13, 2026·1 point·0 comments

AI Analysis

MidCozyBig Brain

Another custom markup syntax competing with Markdown, Org-mode, and S-expression variants.

Strengths
  • Tick-based escaping mechanism allows embedding arbitrary code blocks without complex delimiters.
  • Parser assigns minimal semantic meaning, leaving interpretation entirely to downstream tools.
  • Includes reference implementations for flashcards, notebooks, and graph visualization.
Weaknesses
  • README explicitly lists missing tests, docs, and tutorials as current TODO items.
  • Solves the 'invent a syntax' problem but lacks a compelling reason to switch from Markdown.
Target Audience

Developers interested in DSL design, markup languages, or personal knowledge management tools.

Similar To

Markdown · Org-mode · S-expressions

Post Description

Ideas:

* Keep the notation as small as possible and non-intrusive. * Have a parser that assigns as little meaning as possible and returns a tree that is easy to work with. * Do everything else by walking the tree. * Avoid having to come up with syntaxes and parsers all the time.

I think the design is complete because nothing can be taken away from the syntax or the parser.

I have been using this system for many years now. When I am writing brashtag documents I am think of constructing trees not of typing text.

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