Markdown, DITA, or Both?

DITA, with its well-defined topic types, structure, and semantics, is a popular format for authoring, managing, and publishing technical content. However, many organizations have embraced the simplicity and wide infrastructure support for Markdown. Markdown offers an easy-to-learn authoring experience that is particularly popular with the software development community.

This presentation will compare and contrast DITA- and Markdown-based content workflows, with special attention to key indicators for each. We will also discuss Lightweight DITA, which offers compatible Markdown, XML, and HTML5-based file formats, and allows organizations to include Markdown content in DITA workflows.

Key learning points:

• Review basic Markdown syntax for writing documentation
• Discuss Markdown-based workflows in use by major organizations to author, manage, and publish content
• Discuss key indicators for when highly-structured, semantically-rich DITA may be appropriate, and when Markdown may be appropriate
• Discuss workflows that combine DITA and Markdown, particularly using Lightweight DITA