What is Markdown?
According to the definition in Wikipedia Markdown is a lightweight markup language for creating formatted text using a plain-text editor.
Markdown is a text-to-HTML conversion tool for web writers. It allows you to write easier to write, easier to read plain text format which converts into valid HTML format. Markdown is not a replacement for HTML.
Simply saying, that you can have the output which is shown on the right side in the above image by simply writing that format. So, let’s see how we can use markdown to format a text.
Headings
Emphasis
List Items
How does Markdown work?
Markdown is plain text and you have to save your work using either .markdown or .md extensions. Once you have the markdown file you need a markdown application capable of processing the markdown file. It uses something called a markdown processor, which basically takes the markdown text and puts it to HTML format.
Let’s see why we use markdown.
- Accessibility — Markdown is very accessible for someone who doesn’t know the basics of HTML. Because to write HTML code there is a standard structure and you need to know those basics even though you are writing a very simple code. But Markdown is very easy to learn and fast to use for anyone.
- Used everywhere — Markdown is applicable in websites, email, and also documentation. It is the unofficial standard on popular version controlling online platforms like Github. It is also the default formatting option for communication tools like Skype, Slack and Facebook Messenger.
Resources — https://www.codecademy.com
