Show HN: MSDL – A minimal description language and editor for system diagrams

4 points

a year ago

When I dug into systems theory, the thing I found missing early on was a good editor for diagrams while exploring or explaining systems. So I used Graphviz, and found myself typing boilerplate and constructions that I found cumbersome.

The editor I envisioned would be close to natural language, with a minimal syntax and a clear, but flexible semantics.

So I started building a DSL and an editor for myself, but soon found there was a lot to learn, and a lot of pitfalls to avoid. It grew, and I had to revisit my goals with this project.

That was the moment I thought: let me give back to the community.

I created a spec for the language I had in mind, Minimal Systemigram Description Language. And a browser based and wails based desktop editor. And a Github page. If you want to jump there right away: https://stefankober.github.io/minimal-systemigram-descriptio.... There is extensive help in the editors.

To check it and learn, I recreated diagrams from introductory books I read. This in turn made me update the spec and the editor again.

Today I released it on Github in version 0.1.0 for you to assess.

It has a Github pages version of the editor for immediate trial, the spec, the desktop editors and the library, all open source.

Builds are there for Ubuntu, Mac and Windows, the latter via Github Runners, and I tested all of them on the systems I have (one of each :D).

I am far from a good programmer, but I put a lot of love into it. I hope it shows in the details.

If you are a systems practicioner, learner, teacher, or just interested, it might be something for you.

Let me know what you think, good or bad. Happy to answer questions.