MyST
MyST (Markedly Structured Text) is a lightweight markup language and toolchain designed for creating scientific and technical documentation. It extends Markdown with additional syntax for complex elements like equations, cross-references, and citations, and integrates with the Sphinx documentation generator to produce high-quality outputs like HTML, PDF, and LaTeX. It is commonly used in projects like Jupyter Book and the Executable Books Project to build interactive, reproducible documents.
Developers should learn MyST when working on documentation for scientific, academic, or technical projects that require advanced features beyond basic Markdown, such as mathematical equations, bibliographies, or multi-format publishing. It is particularly useful in data science, research, and open-source software contexts where integrating code, text, and outputs into cohesive documents is essential, as it supports Jupyter notebooks and enhances collaboration through version control.