// SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-SA-4.0
= Comparison Matrix
:toc:
:toclevels: 2

This matrix is a high-level positioning guide. It focuses on guarantees,
authoring cost, and typical audience.

[cols="2,2,2,2", options="header"]
|===
| Format | Guarantees | Authoring Cost | Typical Audience

| A2ML
| Typed invariants + attestation
| Low to medium
| Docs, specs, long-lived artifacts

| CommonMark
| Unambiguous syntax only
| Low
| General web docs

| Djot
| Rich syntax, deterministic parse
| Low
| Web docs, technical writing

| AsciiDoc
| Strong structure by convention
| Medium
| Technical manuals

| reStructuredText
| Strong structure by convention
| Medium
| Python/docs ecosystems

| DocBook
| Schema-validated structure
| High
| Enterprise publishing

| JATS
| Schema-validated scholarly structure
| High
| Academic journals

| TEI
| Extensive schema-driven encoding
| High
| Digital humanities

| xml2rfc
| Strict XML vocabulary
| High
| IETF standards

| DITA
| Topic-based structured XML
| High
| Enterprise technical writing
|===

A2ML targets the gap between lightweight authoring and formal guarantees by
combining a small surface syntax with a typed, verifiable core.
