.MD

Markdown

Introduction

Markdown is a way of writing formatted text with plain characters, created by John Gruber with Aaron Swartz in 2004. A # makes a heading, asterisks make emphasis and a dash starts a list item, so the file reads naturally as written and converts cleanly to HTML. It is used for README files, documentation, notes and comments on sites such as GitHub.

The original description left many cases open, so dialects grew. CommonMark is a precise specification of the core, and GitHub Flavored Markdown adds tables, task lists and strikethrough on top of it. Files use .md or .markdown.

Software

Structure

A Markdown file is plain text, normally UTF-8. Blocks are separated by blank lines: headings start with one to six # characters, list items with -, * or a number, quotes with >, and code blocks are fenced by three backticks. Within a line, *text* and **text** give emphasis and strong emphasis, and [text](address) makes a link. Many tools also read a block of YAML front matter between two --- lines at the top of the file.

# Packing list

Bring the **essentials** and *nothing* more:

- Tent
- Stove
- [Map of the route](https://example.com/map)

> Check the forecast before leaving.
A short Markdown file with a heading, emphasis, a list, a link and a quote.