reStructuredText evolved from an earlier lightweight markup language called StructuredText{{cite web |title=zope.structuredtext Documentation |url=https://zopestructuredtext.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ |website=Read the Docs |access-date=2022-08-16}} (developed by Zope). There were a number of problems with StructuredText, and reST was developed to address them.{{cite web

| last = Goodger

| first = David

| title = Problems With StructuredText

| publisher = Docutils Project

| date = 2016-05-24

| url = https://docutils.sourceforge.io/docs/dev/rst/problems.html

| access-date = 2022-08-16

}}

The name reStructuredText was chosen to indicate that reST is a "revised, reworked, and reinterpreted StructuredText."{{cite web

| last = Goodger

| first = David

| title = Docutils FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

| publisher = Docutils Project

| date = 2016-02-26

| url = http://docutils.sourceforge.net/FAQ.html#why-is-it-called-restructuredtext

| access-date = 2016-10-05

}}

Parts of the reST syntax were inspired by the Setext language from the early 1990s. Elements of the common RFC822 Internet Message Format and Javadoc formats were also considered for inclusion in the design.{{cite web

|last = Goodger

|first = David

|title = A Record of reStructuredText Syntax Alternatives

|publisher = Docutils Project

|url = https://docutils.sourceforge.io/docs/dev/rst/alternatives.html

|website = docutils.sourceforge.io

|access-date = 2022-08-16

|date = 2022-04-02

}}

reStructuredText was first released in June 2001.{{Cite web |title=Project: reStructuredText - File List |url=https://sourceforge.net/projects/structuredtext/files/restructuredtext/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011019081106/http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=7050 |archive-date=19 October 2001 |access-date=5 February 2023 |website=SourceForge}} It began to see significant use in the Python community in 2002.{{cite web

| title = Introduction to reStructuredText

| publisher = Write The Docs

| url = https://www.writethedocs.org/guide/writing/reStructuredText/

| access-date = 2022-06-25

}}

The reference implementation of the reST parser is a component of the Docutils text processing framework in the Python programming language, but other parsers are available.

The Docutils project has not registered any MIME type for reStructuredText nor designated any unregistered MIME type as official, but documents the MIME type text/x-rst as in de facto use by, for example, the build system for the Python website.{{cite web

| title = What's the official MIME type for reStructuredText data? in Docutils FAQ.

| publisher = Docutils Project

| url = http://docutils.sourceforge.net/FAQ.html#what-s-the-official-mime-type-for-restructuredtext-data

| access-date = 2017-12-20 }} The same MIME type is used in the freedesktop.org file type database used by desktop environments on Linux.{{cite web |url=https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/xdg/shared-mime-info/-/blob/815b520eb01992a05d41a5434f1227a8be101e15/data/freedesktop.org.xml.in#L6708 |title=freedesktop.org.xml.in |work=shared-mime-info |publisher=freedesktop.org}} Another MIME type, {{code|text/prs.fallenstein.rst}}, was registered as a vanity MIME type by a third party in 2003 to represent reStructuredText, and remains the only IANA-registered MIME type for reStructuredText,{{cite web |url=https://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/text/prs.fallenstein.rst |title=text/prs.fallenstein.rst |institution=IANA |date=2003-10-02 |first=Benja |last=Fallenstein |quotation=ReStructuredText was designed and implemented by David Goodger, not by the registrant of this media type. The registrant just happened to have need of a registered media type for it. […] Change control for this registration is currently with Benja Fallenstein. (If anybody more intimately involved with ReStructuredText wants to take it over, it will be surrendered gladly.)}} although it is not acknowledged as such by the Docutils project.

reStructuredText is commonly used for technical documentation, for example, in documentation of Python libraries.{{cite web

| last=Goodger

| first=David

| title=PEP 287 -- reStructuredText Docstring Format

| date=2002-04-02

| url=https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0287/

| publisher=Python Software Foundation

| access-date=2016-10-05}} However, it is suitable for a wide range of texts.

Since 2008, reST has been a core component of Python's Sphinx document generation system.

Trac also supports reStructuredText,{{cite web

| url=https://trac.edgewall.org/wiki/WikiRestructuredText

| title=reStructuredText Support in Trac

| date=2016-09-13

| publisher=Trac

| access-date=2016-10-05}} as do GitHub and Bitbucket.

In 2011, Distributed Proofreaders, which prepared texts for Project Gutenberg, was considering adoption of reST as a basic format from which other ebook formats could be generated.{{cite web

| last = Newby

| first = Greg

| title = Minutes of 2010 December 11 meeting

| publisher = Distributed Proofreaders

| date = 2011-01-08

| url = http://www.pgdp.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=44456

|url-access=registration | access-date = 2011-01-08 }}{{update inline|date=May 2015}}

In July 2016 the Linux kernel project decided to transition from DocBook based documentation to reStructuredText and the Sphinx toolchain.{{cite web

| title = Kernel documentation with Sphinx, part 1: how we got here

| publisher = LWN.net

| date = 2016-07-06

| url = http://lwn.net/Articles/692704/

| access-date = 2016-10-27 }}{{cite web

| title=Sphinx. Linux kernel

| publisher = Wikipedia

| date = 2024-04-02

| url = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphinx_(documentation_generator)#Linux_kernel

| access-date = 2024-04-02}}{{Circular reference|date=May 2024}}

The software build tool CMake switched from a custom markup language to reStructuredText in version 3.0 for its documentation.{{cite web

| title = CMake 3.0.0 Release Notes

| publisher = Kitware, Inc.

| date = 2014-06-10

| url = https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.0/release/3.0.0.html

| access-date = 2016-10-05 }}

{|class="wikitable"

! width="33%" | Text using rST syntax

! width="34%" | Corresponding HTML produced by an rST processor

! width="33%" | Text viewed in a browser

|-valign="top"

|

Document Heading

Heading

Sub-heading

-----------

Paragraphs are separated

by a blank line.

|

Document Heading

Heading

Sub-heading

Paragraphs are separated

by a blank line.

|

Y = lambda f: (lambda x: f(x(x)))(lambda x: f(x(x)))

Y = lambda f: (lambda x: f(x(x)))(lambda x: f(x(x)))

• Comparison of document markup languages
• Comparison of documentation generators
• Comparison of note-taking software

{{Reflist}}

• [https://docutils.sourceforge.io/rst.html Official reStructuredText website with reference pages]

{{lowercase|reStructuredText}}

{{Document markup languages}}

Category:Lightweight markup languages

Category:Source code documentation formats