Markdown Fundamentals in Markdown

Lessons in this section

1. Markdown Basics

   See the same note as plain text, rich text and Markdown. Learn the three readers of every Markdown file, why Markdown survives copy and paste and code review, why AI tools use it, and when to use JSON instead.

2. Headings and Paragraphs

   Write headings, paragraphs and line breaks that render the way you expect. Fix a release note whose line breaks disappear, learn the six heading levels, force a new line with a backslash, use bold and italic, and see why headings matter to AI agents.

3. Lists and Nesting

   Write bullet, numbered and task lists that stay together. Repair a setup guide whose nested list collapsed, learn the indent rule, keep notes and code inside a step, and pick the list type an AI agent will read correctly.

4. Links and Images

   Write links and images that work. Fix three broken links, use relative links between project files and links to headings, keep long addresses in reference links, and write alt text that people and AI agents can use.

5. Code Blocks

   Show commands and code exactly as typed. Fix a code block that swallowed the page, write inline code and fenced blocks, add language hints, nest fences safely, and write commands people and agents can copy.

6. Tables and Quotes

   Build tables that render where you need them. See why a table breaks outside GitHub and loses cells, align columns, escape pipes, decide when a list beats a table, and write quotes, dividers and strikethrough.

7. Escaping and HTML

   Stop Markdown from changing text you meant literally. Escape marks with a backslash, find the characters that cause trouble mid-line and at the start of a line, keep angle brackets from vanishing, use HTML tags and comments safely, and test yourself with a predict-the-render quiz.