[tarjei]

AsciiMath has one large benefit over Latex: It fits how you would write math in an email.

AsciiMath is perfect for users who do not know Latex (or code for that matter) but needs to use mathematical notation on a daily basis.

I applaud that AsciiMath has resurfaced. I've used it in combination with Katex a cuple of times with great results.

[arcanus]

Hmm, in all my correspondence with engineers and mathematicians, we just paste or write latex directly in the email.

Knowledge of latex is assumed, and honestly I (and my colleagues) are able to parse thus natively.

[dTal]

Which is, in a nutshell, why it's important for a formal language to be easy to read and write, and why eliminating overly verbose notation matters. It's not just for computers...

[semi-extrinsic]

In this respect I think AsciiMath doesn't go far enough, precisely because of the Ascii part. Especially for super- and subscripts, why not use the corresponding Unicode characters?

At least on my keyboard, "x^2" is one keystroke more than "x²", and the latter is much more redable.

[JumpCrisscross]

AsciiMath optimises for ease of use in both reading and writing. Fewer people know how to write x² than x^2, yet virtually everyone will read them equivalently. That's not true for n/2 versus \frac{n}{2}.

[semi-extrinsic]

Isn't x^2 typed <x><^><space><2>, while x² is the same minus the <space>, on most keyboards?

[kobeya]

Not in US standard keyboards, no. You're using an international keyboard layout with dead keys.

[thaumasiotes]

I've never knowingly seen a keyboard that would allow you to type ² at all. So, no.

[daurnimator]

No. I've never seen a keyboard do this.

[blt]

same, even when it adds nothing, for example I wrote \alpha in an email recently.

[vanderZwan]

Now if only email had autocomplete like the Juno IDE does...

http://junolab.org/ (scroll down)

[milesrout]

If you want email to have autocomplete, then it does. 'Email' isn't a client. The client you choose to use is. Write your emails in vim -> now you have autocomplete.

[monsieurbanana]

But does vim have a top class email plugin that allows powerful research, editing, sending and receiving emails?

Because Emacs does. Choose smart, choose Emacs.

(this comment is written half in jest)

https://www.djcbsoftware.nl/code/mu/mu4e.html

[gjjrfcbugxbhf]

No. The way to write your emails in vim is to use an email client that lets you open the text in an editor of your choice. E.g. mutt, or a webclient combined with an add on that let's your open textarea in an external editor (vimperator or its all text).

P.s. emacs sounds like a great OS - are there any add ons that allow one to open its textareas in a decent editor? :p

[milesrout]

Well no, because vim isn't an email client. It is a text editor, and good email clients can use it to edit emails.

[zulln]

Eh.. there should be plugins for that.