Markdown

Markdown is a lightweight markup language used to create formatted text using a plain-text editor. It was designed to be easy to read and write, featuring a simple syntax that relies on plain text characters. While various “flavours” of Markdown have existed over time, efforts have been made to standardize its syntax through CommonMark.

Markdown is commonly used in documentation, README files, notebooks, blogs, and similar formats (and also for writing this book). Files written in Markdown typically use the .md or .markdown file extension.

One of Markdown’s key strengths is its flexibility in output. It can be converted into multiple formats such as HTML, PDF, and Word documents. Additionally, it supports the inclusion of inline HTML code, enabling more advanced customization when needed.

There are many good sources and tutorials for Markdown out there, so we won’t repeat them here. If you are new to Markdown and looking for a quick introduction, we recommend, e.g.:

• CommonMark’s “Learn Markdown in 60 Seconds”

• CommonMark’s “10-Minute Markdown Tutorial“