LabScript is a very, very simple markdown (up?) language that I can compile to HTML. The goal was to create a very simple language to write little blog posts in, as well as to test out what building a little parser / compiler is like.

As of this post, LabScript supports 3 kinds of content blocks:

• Text
• Code Blocks
• Photos

This repo contains a Ruby parser implementation.

Alternatives considered:

• Jekyll (markdown files -> HTML): this is probably the right choice - but it felt heavy to be honest. I didn't want to deal with writing pure markdown in Vim (too many seductive tools for viewing / editing).
• Writing raw HTML: also would work but too much cognitive load.
• Blogger / WordPress / choose-your-own-blog-service: I was concerned I wouldn't understand the abstractions from first principles, or that by the time I did they'd have shifted significantly under my feet. Also, would have to convert my static site onto some kind of hosted service.
  
  Next steps will be adding footnote support to the Text content block - also may write a LabScript parser in OCaml / some functional language as a nice contrast to my hacky implementation in Ruby.
  
  [0] github link here