Re: Markdown Extra Specification (First Draft)

ns what, and the span element 2.4.7 is "Abbreviation",
> representing an instance of an abbreviation in the text (deduced 
> automatically by the parser). I'm not sure what is the problem there. 
> It's pretty much alike 2.2.1 Link Reference and 2.4.4 Link: one is the 
> definition of the URL and title of a link; the other is the actual link.
> 
>  * * *
> 
> I'm sorry to ditch most of your suggestions like that, but I can't 
> really do any breaking change to the syntax, or that syntax wouldn't be 
> Markdown anymore. The idea behind the spec is to give implementors an 
> unambiguous reference about how to implement Markdown (and Markdown 
> Extra), allowing documents tested with one parser to work with any 
> other, unchanged.
> 

Not to worry.  I wasn't expecting backward compatibility, so that 
flavoured much of what I said. I was not aware of PHP Markdown 
extra.  I will read further before commenting again.

THAT said, however, maintaining perfect backward compatibility 
slows down progress.

Can markdown extra have a configuration file:
The default behaviour is to emulate markdown.
The configuration file allows for new features that don't fit
well into the old set.

Implementation specs:  The program should have a compiled in
set of locations to look for the config file, a command line 
option, and an environment option.

Consider too, if it is truly an improvement, it can be given a
new name, and a new calling convention, "MarkdownX"  This allows
both systems to be in use while a system is in transition.

Couple this with a program that scans old markdown files for 
'gotchas' that have changed in the new one.

> Given the current situation, it may be a little utopian to believe no 
> current document will be broken as implementations adjust themselves to 
> the spec, but we should try to minimize that.
> 
> 

I agree that you need a way for people to gracefully make the 
transition.  The best approach is a method that allows old
and new systems to co-exist in the same environment.  If you call 
it with a new name, there shouldn't be a problem.