Markdown is a lightweight markup language used to organize plain text into structured documents. When writing, you only need to add a few symbols before and after the text to indicate formats such as headings, lists, emphasis, and links.
Its characteristic is good readability: even without any conversion, the plain text itself is close to natural writing and is not as difficult to read as typesetting code. This makes it a common format for writing, note-taking, and technical documentation.
The problem it solves
When writing documents with conventional word processing software, formatting and content are bound together. If you open it in another piece of software, the styles may become disordered. Markdown separates content from formatting: symbols express structure, and how it is actually presented is determined by the tool that opens it.
The same content can be output as a web page, an electronic document, or a readme file, while the original text always remains plain text, making it convenient for long-term preservation and version management.
Common syntax
- Headings: use a number of hash marks at the beginning of a line to indicate the level; the more symbols, the lower the level.
- Paragraphs and line breaks: leave a blank line between paragraphs; when you need a line break within a line, leave spaces at the end of the line.
- Emphasis: wrap text in asterisks or underscores to indicate italics, and use two sets of symbols to indicate bold.
- Lists: start with an asterisk, plus sign, or minus sign for an unordered list, and use numbers plus a period for an ordered list.
- Links and images: for links, put the text in square brackets and the address in parentheses; for images, add an exclamation mark prefix on top of that.
- Code: wrap inline code in a single backtick, and wrap code blocks in three backticks.
- Blockquotes: use a greater-than sign at the beginning of a line.
- Tables and task lists: separate cells with vertical bars; use a space or a cross in square brackets to indicate to-do status.
Main uses
Markdown is commonly found in three types of scenarios: personal note-taking and knowledge organization, technical documentation and project readmes, and article writing in content management systems. The latter has the most direct relationship with websites—many content platforms support pasting Markdown directly, and the system converts it into web page format.
A few things to note when using it
Different tools do not fully support the same range of syntax, and some extended syntax may not be recognized in other tools. If content needs to move between multiple platforms, try to use basic syntax. In addition, the premise of expressing structure with symbols is that the structure itself is clear—formatting is only presentation, and the organization of the content still determines the final effect.