The Official Guide to Mermaid.js

Get up to speed with using Mermaid diagrams to facilitate a seamless development workflow with the help of real-world examples and expert tips from the creators of the tool

Key Features

• Learn how to use and customize the different diagram types in Mermaid
• Discover examples of how to add Mermaid to a documentation system
• Use Mermaid with various tools available such as editors, wiki, and more

Book Description

Mermaid is a JavaScript-based charting and diagramming tool that lets you represent diagrams using text and code, which simplifies the maintenance of complex diagrams. This is a great option for developers as they’re more familiar with code, rather than using special tools for generating diagrams. Besides, diagrams in code simplify maintenance and ensure that the code is supported by version control systems. In some cases, Mermaid makes refactoring support for name changes possible while also enabling team collaboration for review distribution and updates.

Developers working with any system will be able to put their knowledge to work with this practical guide to using Mermaid for documentation. The book is also a great reference for looking up the syntax for specific diagrams when authoring diagrams.

You’ll start by learning the importance of accurate and visual documentation. Next, the book introduces Mermaid and establishes how to use it to create effective documentation. By using different tools, editors, or a custom documentation platform, you’ll also understand how to use Mermaid syntax for various diagrams. Later chapters cover advanced configuration settings and theme options to manipulate your diagram as per your needs.

By the end of this book, you’ll be well-versed with Mermaid diagrams and how they can be used in your workflows.

What you will learn

• Understand good and bad documentation, and the art of effective documentation
• Become well-versed with maintaining complex diagrams with ease
• Discover how to draw different types of Mermaid diagrams such as flowcharts, class diagrams, Gantt charts, and more
• Implement Mermaid diagrams in your workflows
• Understand how to set up themes for a Mermaid diagram or an entire site
• Get to grips with setting up a custom documentation system

Who this book is for

This book is for content generators such as technical writers, developers, architects, business analysts, and managers who want to learn effective documentation or how to effectively represent diagrams using simple text code snippets and extract them. Familiarity with documentation using Markdown will be helpful, but not necessary.

Table of Contents

1. The Art of Documentation with Mermaid
2. How to Use Mermaid
3. Mermaid Versions and Using the Live Editor
4. Modifying Configurations with or without Directives
5. Changing Themes and Making Mermaid Look Good
6. Using Flowcharts
7. Creating Sequence Diagrams
8. Rendering Class Diagrams
9. Illustrating Data with Pie Charts and Understanding Requirement Diagrams
10. Demonstrating Connections Using Entity Relationship Diagrams
11. Representing System Behavior with State Diagrams
12. Visualizing Your Project Schedule with Gantt Chart Diagrams
13. Presenting User Behavior with User Journey Diagrams

Knut Sveidqvist has been in the software industry for over 20 years in roles spanning all the way from architecture to development through product ownership and managing development teams. A common theme in all these roles is the need for good documentation. This inspired Knut to create Mermaid and start the Mermaid open source project. The main goal with the project was and still is to make it more fun and efficient to write technical documentation. Ever since Knut created Mermaid, he has continued to work with the project and has a wealth of knowledge about Mermaid that he now wants to share with the developer community.

Ashish Jain has more than 8 years of experience as a technical lead and developer with a bachelor's degree in information technology. He started as a Java backend developer then moved to full-stack development. Within these roles, he worked on project documentation and other documented deliverables, where the need to have a simpler way to draw and integrate diagrams in documents was felt. His search ended with Mermaid, which impressed him enough to see him associate himself with the Mermaid project. He is an open source contributor and a part of the Mermaid core team.