Markdown Guide

What is Markdown?

Markdown is a lightweight markup language created by John Gruber in collaboration with Aaron Swartz in 2004. It's designed to be easy to read and write, with a syntax that's intuitive and unobtrusive. Markdown files use the .md or .markdown extension.

With Markdown, you can format text, create lists, add images, and more using simple, plain-text syntax. It's widely used for documentation, README files, forum posts, and content management systems.

The primary goal of Markdown is to provide a syntax that is as readable as possible, so that documents can be read in plain text without appearing to be marked up with formatting instructions. This makes it ideal for writers who want to focus on content rather than formatting.

The History of Markdown

John Gruber created Markdown in 2004 with the goal of enabling people to "write using an easy-to-read, easy-to-write plain text format, and optionally convert it to structurally valid XHTML (or HTML)."

Since its creation, Markdown has grown to become one of the world's most popular markup languages. It has been adopted by major platforms like GitHub, Reddit, Stack Overflow, and Discord, and is supported by countless applications across all operating systems.

Over time, various flavors of Markdown have emerged, including GitHub Flavored Markdown, CommonMark, and MultiMarkdown, each adding features to the original specification while maintaining backward compatibility.

Why Use Markdown?

• Simplicity: Easy to learn and use with minimal syntax, making it accessible to writers of all technical levels
• Portability: Works across different platforms and applications, ensuring your content remains usable regardless of the tool
• Focus on Content: Write without the distraction of formatting tools, allowing you to concentrate on your message
• Convertibility: Easily converts to HTML, PDF, DOCX, and other formats, making it versatile for different publishing needs
• Version Control: Plain text format works well with version control systems like Git, making it ideal for collaborative writing
• Future-Proof: Being plain text, Markdown files will remain readable and editable for decades to come
• Lightweight: Markdown files are typically smaller than their formatted counterparts, making them faster to transfer and store
• Accessibility: Properly structured Markdown translates to semantic HTML, which is better for accessibility

Popular Markdown Flavors

While the original Markdown specification by John Gruber provides the foundation, several extended syntaxes have emerged to address specific needs:

Basic Markdown Syntax

Here's a quick overview of the most common Markdown elements:

# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3

**Bold text**
*Italic text*
~~Strikethrough~~

- Unordered item
- Another item
  - Nested item

1. Ordered item
2. Second item

[Link text](https://example.com)
![Image alt text](image-url.jpg)