What is Markdown - Markdown Guide

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What is Markdown - Markdown Guide

A complete guide on what is markdown and how to learn it

Learning Markdown is relatively easy and straightforward, as it is a simple language that uses a set of special characters and symbols to indicate formatting. Here are a few steps that can help you get started with learning Markdown:

  1. Start by reading the documentation: The best place to start learning Markdown is by reading the official documentation, which provides a detailed explanation of the language and its syntax. This will give you a good understanding of the basics of Markdown and how it works.

  2. Try out some examples: Once you have a basic understanding of the syntax, try out some examples of Markdown to see how it works in practice. You can find many examples and tutorials online that demonstrate how to use Markdown for different types of text formatting.

  3. Practice writing in Markdown: The more you practice writing in Markdown, the more comfortable you will become with the language. Try using Markdown to format text for a blog post, a README file or a simple document. This will help you get a feel for how to use Markdown in different contexts.

  4. Use a Markdown editor or previewer: There are many Markdown editors and previewers available, such as Typora, Sublime Text, and Dillinger, which can help you write and preview your Markdown in real-time. This will help you see how your text will look when it is formatted, and make it easy to make changes as needed.

  5. Take online course or tutorial: There are many online tutorials and courses available that can help you learn Markdown. Some of them are free and some of them are paid. They can provide you with more in-depth knowledge and understanding of the language and its use cases.

Learning Markdown is a relatively easy and straightforward process, and once you get the hang of it, you'll find it to be a useful tool for formatting text quickly and easily. With some practice and experimentation, you'll be able to use Markdown to create well-formatted text for a variety of contexts.

Here are some examples of Markdown code and the resulting formatted text:

  1. Headings: In Markdown, headings are created by using one or more hashtags before the text.

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

    Will be formatted as:

    Heading 1

    Heading 2

    Heading 3

  2. Emphasis: In Markdown, emphasis is created by using asterisks or underscores around the text.

     *This text will be italic*
     _This text will also be italic_
     **This text will be bold**
     __This text will also be bold__
    

    Will be formatted as:

    This text will be italic

    This text will also be italic

    This text will be bold

    This text will also be bold

  3. Lists: In Markdown, lists can be created using dashes, asterisks, or numbers.

     - Item 1
     - Item 2
     - Item 3
    
     * Item 1
     * Item 2
     * Item 3
    
     1. Item 1
     2. Item 2
     3. Item 3
    

    Will be formatted as:

    • Item 1

    • Item 2

    • Item 3

* Item 1

* Item 2

* Item 3


1. Item 1

2. Item 2

3. Item 3

4. Links: In Markdown, links can be created using the following format: `[link text](link URL)`.

    ```markdown
    [Google](https://www.google.com/)
    ```

    Will be formatted as: [**Google**](https://www.google.com/)

5. mages: In Markdown, images can be added using the following format: `![image alt text](image URL)`

    Will be formatted as:

    ![A cute cat](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tntOCGkgt98/maxresdefault.jpg align="left")

The table in Markdown:

Creating tables in Markdown is a bit more complex than other elements like headings, lists, and links. There are a couple of different ways to create tables in Markdown, but the most common method is to use the pipe (|) and dash (-) characters to create the table structure.

Here's an example of a basic table:

Copy code| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|----------|----------|----------|
| Row 1, Column 1 | Row 1, Column 2 | Row 1, Column 3 |
| Row 2, Column 1 | Row 2, Column 2 | Row 2, Column 3 |

The first row of the table is used to define the headers of the table, and the dashes (-) are used to separate the headers from the rest of the table. Each subsequent row represents a new row in the table, and the values are separated by the pipe (|) character.

You can also add alignment to the columns, by using : at the left, right or center of the separator dashes:

Copy code| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|:---------|:--------:|---------:|
| Left aligned | Center aligned | Right aligned |
| Row 2, Column 1 | Row 2, Column 2 | Row 2, Column 3 |

It's worth to note that the table formatting may not be rendered correctly in all Markdown editors, and may require the use of a Markdown previewer or a specific Markdown renderer. Additionally, there are other ways to create tables in Markdown such as using html or gridtable and also some markdown editors may have their own table formatting options.

Markdown cheat sheet:

Here is a quick cheat sheet of some commonly used Markdown syntax:

Headings

Copy code# H1
## H2
### H3
#### H4
##### H5
###### H6

Emphasis (bold, italic)

Copy code**bold** or __bold__
*italic* or _italic_
***bold and italic*** or ___bold and italic___

Lists

Copy code- Unordered list item
- Another unordered list item
    - Nested unordered list item

1. Ordered list item
2. Another ordered list item
    1. Nested ordered list item

Links

Copy code[link text](https://example.com)

Images

Copy code![alt text](image.jpg)

Code blocks

Copy code```code
code block
Copy code
# Blockquotes

This is a blockquote

Copy code
# Horizontal lines

Copy code
# Tables
Column 1Column 2Column 3
Row 1, Column 1Row 1, Column 2Row 1, Column 3
Row 2, Column 1Row 2, Column 2Row 2, Column 3
Copy code
Keep in mind that this is just a quick cheat sheet and not all markdown syntax is covered here. You can find more information and examples on the official Markdown syntax guide.