- **Epistemic status:** #budding Plain text is a computing term that utilizes Unicode characters to convey information without any other added information such as a language identifier, font size, color, etc. An example of this is the following: ```text * Coffee * Sugar * Creamer ``` Files can still be considered plaintext as long as the markup is also human-readable, such as Markdown, [[HTML (HyperText Markup Language)]], JSON, etc. The purpose of utilizing plain text is to be able to read and update the file without the requirement of a specific [[Computer Program]] due to special encoding, formatting, and or file format. Plain text is highly compatible with a variety of text editors and utilities, offering a high degree of independence. --- ## References - “Plain Text.” In _Wikipedia_, March 19, 2022. <https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plain_text&oldid=1078001894>. - Thomas, David, and Andrew Hunt. _The Pragmatic Programmer, 20th Anniversary Edition: Journey to Mastery_. Second edition. Boston: Addison-Wesley, 2019.