MDEx

A fast 100% CommonMark-compatible GitHub Flavored Markdown parser and formatter for Elixir.

Features

• Fast. Check out the benchmark
• Compatible with the CommonMark spec and the GitHub Flavored Markdown Spec
• Binary is precompiled, no need to compile anything
• Code syntax highlithging, performed by Autumn

Check out some samples at https://mdex-c31.pages.dev

Installation

Add :mdex dependecy:

def deps do
  [
    {:mdex, "~> 0.1"}
  ]
end

Usage

Mix.install([{:mdex, "~> 0.1"}])

MDEx.to_html("# Hello")
#=> "<h1>Hello</h1>\n"

MDEx.to_html(~S"""
# MDEx

Some benefits you'll find:
- Fast
- CommonMark spec
- Binary is precompiled, no need to compile anything
""") |> IO.puts()
#=>
#=> <h1>MDEx</h1>
#=> <p>Some benefits you&#39;ll find:</p>
#=> <ul>
#=> <li>Fast</li>
#=> <li>CommonMark spec</li>
#=> <li>Binary is precompiled, no need to compile anything</li>
#=> <li>Easier to work with since it&#39;s Rust</li>
#=> </ul>

MDEx.to_html(~S"""
# And more...

* Built-in code syntax highlight

\```elixir
String.upcase("elixir")
\```
""") |> IO.puts()
#=> <h1>And more...</h1>
#=> <ul>
#=> <li>Built-in code syntax highlight</li>
#=> </ul>
#=> <pre class="autumn-hl" style="background-color: #282C34; color: #ABB2BF;">
#=> <code class="language-elixir" translate="no">
#=> <span class="ahl-namespace" style="color: #61AFEF;">String</span><span class="ahl-operator" style="color: #C678DD;">.</span><span class="ahl-function" style="color: #61AFEF;">upcase</span><span class="ahl-punctuation ahl-bracket" style="color: #ABB2BF;">(</span><span class="ahl-string" style="color: #98C379;">"elixir"</span><span class="ahl-punctuation ahl-bracket" style="color: #ABB2BF;">)</span>
#=> </code></pre>

Demo and Samples

A livebook and a script are available to play with and experiment with this library,or you can check out all available samples at https://mdex-c31.pages.dev

Benchmark

A simple script is available to compare existing libs:

Name              ips        average  deviation         median         99th %
cmark         24.01 K      0.0417 ms    ±14.11%      0.0405 ms      0.0631 ms
mdex          16.37 K      0.0611 ms     ±9.65%      0.0601 ms      0.0870 ms
md             0.85 K        1.18 ms     ±4.72%        1.16 ms        1.36 ms
earmark        0.47 K        2.14 ms     ±2.82%        2.13 ms        2.42 ms

Comparison:
cmark         24.01 K
mdex          16.37 K - 1.47x slower +0.0194 ms
md             0.85 K - 28.36x slower +1.14 ms
earmark        0.47 K - 51.47x slower +2.10 ms

Motivation

• earmarkcan't parse all kinds of documents and is slow to convert hundreds of markdowns.
• md is fast enough and extensible but the doc says "If one needs to perfectly parse the common markdown, Md is probably not the correct choice" so it also fails to parse many documents.
• markdown is not precompiled and has not received updates in a while.
• cmark is a fast CommonMark parser but it requires compiling the C library and is hard to extend.

But if any of the available libraries is working for you, you can keep using it :)

Looking for help with your Elixir project?

At DockYard we are ready to help you build your next Elixir project. We have a unique expertise in Elixir and Phoenix development that is unmatched and we love to write about Elixir.

Have a project in mind? Get in touch!

Acknowledgements

• Use Rust's comrak crate under the hood.
• Logo created by by Freepik - Flaticon
• Logo font designed by Alan Greene