{"url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown","finalUrl":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown","format":"article","title":"Markdown","byline":"Contributors to Wikimedia projects","siteName":"Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.","excerpt":"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia","markdown":"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia\n\nMarkdown\n\n[![](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/Markdown-mark.svg/120px-Markdown-mark.svg.png?utm_source=en.wikipedia.org&utm_campaign=parser&utm_content=thumbnail)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Markdown-mark.svg)\n\n[Filename extensions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filename_extension \"Filename extension\")\n\n`.md`, `.markdown`[\\[1\\]](#cite_note-df-2022-1)[\\[2\\]](#cite_note-rfc7763-2)\n\n[Internet media type](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_type \"Media type\")\n\n`text/markdown`[\\[2\\]](#cite_note-rfc7763-2)\n\n[Uniform Type Identifier (UTI)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Type_Identifier \"Uniform Type Identifier\")\n\n`net.daringfireball.markdown`\n\nUTI conformation\n\n`public.utf8-plain-text`\n\n[Magic number](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_format#Magic_number \"File format\")\n\nNone\n\nDeveloped by\n\n-   [John Gruber](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gruber \"John Gruber\")\n\nInitial release\n\nMarch 9, 2004 (22 years ago)[\\[3\\]](#cite_note-markdown-swartz-3)[\\[4\\]](#cite_note-gruber-2004-release-4)\n\n[Latest release](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_cycle \"Software release life cycle\")\n\n1.0.1  \nDecember 17, 2004 (21 years ago)[\\[5\\]](#cite_note-md-5)\n\nType of format\n\n[Open file format](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_file_format \"Open file format\")[\\[6\\]](#cite_note-license-6)\n\nExtended to\n\n[pandoc](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandoc \"Pandoc\"), [MultiMarkdown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MultiMarkdown \"MultiMarkdown\"), [Markdown Extra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown_Extra \"Markdown Extra\"), [CommonMark](#CommonMark),[\\[7\\]](#cite_note-rfc7764-7) [RMarkdown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMarkdown \"RMarkdown\")[\\[8\\]](#cite_note-RMarkdown-8)\n\nWebsite\n\n[daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/](https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/)\n\n**Markdown**[\\[9\\]](#cite_note-philosophy-9) is a [lightweight markup language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightweight_markup_language \"Lightweight markup language\") for creating [formatted text](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formatted_text \"Formatted text\") using a [plain-text editor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_editor \"Text editor\"). [John Gruber](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gruber \"John Gruber\") created Markdown in 2004 as an easy-to-read [markup language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markup_language \"Markup language\").[\\[9\\]](#cite_note-philosophy-9) Markdown is widely used for [blogging](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog \"Blog\"), [instant messaging](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_messaging \"Instant messaging\"), and [large language models](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_language_models \"Large language models\"),[\\[10\\]](#cite_note-llm-markdown-10) and also used elsewhere in [online forums](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_forums \"Online forums\"), [collaborative software](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative_software \"Collaborative software\"), [documentation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentation \"Documentation\") pages, and [readme files](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/README \"README\").\n\nThe initial description of Markdown[\\[11\\]](#cite_note-11) contained ambiguities and raised unanswered questions, causing implementations to both intentionally and accidentally diverge from the original version. This was addressed in 2014 when long-standing Markdown contributors released [CommonMark](#CommonMark), an unambiguous specification and test suite for Markdown.[\\[12\\]](#cite_note-FutureOfMarkdown-12)\\[_[better source needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Questionable_sources \"Wikipedia:Verifiability\")_\\]\n\nMarkdown was inspired by pre-existing [conventions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_\\(norm\\) \"Convention (norm)\") for marking up [plain text](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plain_text \"Plain text\") in [email](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email \"Email\") and [usenet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet \"Usenet\") posts,[\\[13\\]](#cite_note-ArsTechnica2014-13) such as the earlier markup languages [setext](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setext \"Setext\") (c. 1992), [Textile](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textile_\\(markup_language\\) \"Textile (markup language)\") (c. 2002), and [reStructuredText](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReStructuredText \"ReStructuredText\") (c. 2002).[\\[9\\]](#cite_note-philosophy-9)\n\nIn 2002, [Aaron Swartz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz \"Aaron Swartz\") created [atx](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atx_\\(markup_language\\) \"Atx (markup language)\") and referred to it as \"the true structured text format\". Gruber created the Markdown language in 2004 with Swartz as his \"sounding board\".[\\[14\\]](#cite_note-Gruber-14) The goal of the language was to enable people \"to write using an easy-to-read and easy-to-write plain text format, optionally convert it to structurally valid [XHTML](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XHTML \"XHTML\") (or [HTML](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML \"HTML\"))\".[\\[5\\]](#cite_note-md-5)\n\nAnother key design goal was _readability_, that the language be readable as-is, without looking like it has been marked up with tags or formatting instructions,[\\[9\\]](#cite_note-philosophy-9) unlike text formatted with \"heavier\" [markup languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markup_language \"Markup language\"), such as [Rich Text Format](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Text_Format \"Rich Text Format\") (RTF), HTML, or even [wikitext](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikitext \"Wikitext\"), each of which have obvious in-line tags and formatting instructions which can make the text more difficult for humans to read.\\[_[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed \"Wikipedia:Citation needed\")_\\]\n\nGruber wrote a [Perl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perl \"Perl\") script, `Markdown.pl`, which converts marked-up text input to valid, [well-formed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Well-formed_document \"Well-formed document\") XHTML or HTML, encoding angle brackets (`<`, `>`) and [ampersands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampersand \"Ampersand\") (`&`), which would be misinterpreted as special characters in those languages. It can take the role of a standalone script, a plugin for [Blosxom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blosxom \"Blosxom\") or [Movable Type](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movable_Type \"Movable Type\"), or of a text filter for [BBEdit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBEdit \"BBEdit\").[\\[5\\]](#cite_note-md-5)\n\n## Rise and divergence\n\n\\[[edit](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Markdown&action=edit&section=2 \"Edit section: Rise and divergence\")\\]\n\nAs Markdown's popularity grew rapidly, many Markdown [implementations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implementation \"Implementation\") appeared, driven mostly by the need for additional features such as [tables](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_\\(information\\) \"Table (information)\"), [footnotes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Note_\\(typography\\) \"Note (typography)\"), definition lists,[\\[note 1\\]](#cite_note-17) and Markdown inside HTML blocks.\\[_[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed \"Wikipedia:Citation needed\")_\\]\n\nThe behavior of some of these diverged from the reference implementation, as Markdown was only characterised by an informal [specification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specification_\\(technical_standard\\) \"Specification (technical standard)\")[\\[17\\]](#cite_note-18) and a [Perl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perl \"Perl\") implementation for conversion to HTML.\\[_[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed \"Wikipedia:Citation needed\")_\\]\n\nAt the same time, a number of ambiguities in the informal specification had attracted attention.[\\[18\\]](#cite_note-gfm_on_github-why_spec-19) These issues spurred the creation of tools such as Babelmark[\\[19\\]](#cite_note-babelmark-2-20)[\\[20\\]](#cite_note-babelmark-3-21) to compare the output of various implementations,[\\[21\\]](#cite_note-22) and an effort by some developers of Markdown [parsers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsing \"Parsing\") for standardization. However, Gruber has argued that complete standardization would be a mistake: \"Different sites (and people) have different needs. No one syntax would make all happy.\"[\\[22\\]](#cite_note-23)\n\nGruber avoided using curly braces in Markdown to unofficially reserve them for implementation-specific extensions.[\\[23\\]](#cite_note-curlyBraces-24)\n\nCommonMark\n\n[Filename extensions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filename_extension \"Filename extension\")\n\n`.md`, `.markdown`[\\[2\\]](#cite_note-rfc7763-2)\n\n[Internet media type](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_type \"Media type\")\n\n`text/markdown; variant=CommonMark`[\\[7\\]](#cite_note-rfc7764-7)\n\n[Uniform Type Identifier (UTI)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Type_Identifier \"Uniform Type Identifier\")\n\n_uncertain_[\\[24\\]](#cite_note-cm-uti-25)\n\nUTI conformation\n\npublic.plain-text\n\nDeveloped by\n\n[John MacFarlane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_MacFarlane_\\(philosopher\\) \"John MacFarlane (philosopher)\"), open source\n\nInitial release\n\nOctober 25, 2014 (11 years ago)\n\n[Latest release](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_cycle \"Software release life cycle\")\n\n0.31.2  \nJanuary 28, 2024 (2 years ago)[\\[25\\]](#cite_note-cm-spec-26)\n\nType of format\n\n[Open file format](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_file_format \"Open file format\")\n\nExtended from\n\nMarkdown\n\nExtended to\n\n[GitHub Flavored Markdown](#GFM)\n\nWebsite\n\n[commonmark.org](https://commonmark.org/) [spec.commonmark.org](http://spec.commonmark.org/)\n\nStandardization\n\nIn 2012, a group of people, including [Jeff Atwood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Atwood \"Jeff Atwood\") and [John MacFarlane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_MacFarlane_\\(philosopher\\) \"John MacFarlane (philosopher)\"), launched what Atwood characterised as a standardization effort.[\\[12\\]](#cite_note-FutureOfMarkdown-12)\n\nA community website now aims to \"document various tools and resources available to document authors and developers, as well as implementors of the various Markdown implementations\".[\\[26\\]](#cite_note-27)\n\nName\n\nIn September 2014, Gruber objected to the usage of \"Markdown\" in the name of this effort and it was rebranded as \"CommonMark\".[\\[13\\]](#cite_note-ArsTechnica2014-13)[\\[27\\]](#cite_note-28)[\\[28\\]](#cite_note-29) CommonMark.org published several versions of a specification, reference implementation, test suite, and \"\\[plans\\] to announce a finalized 1.0 spec and test suite in 2019\".[\\[29\\]](#cite_note-commonmark.org-30) A finalized 1.0 spec has not been released, as major issues still remain unsolved.[\\[30\\]](#cite_note-31)\n\nAdoption\n\nNonetheless, several websites and projects have adopted CommonMark, including [Codeberg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codeberg \"Codeberg\"), [Discourse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discourse_\\(software\\) \"Discourse (software)\"), [GitHub](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GitHub \"GitHub\"), [GitLab](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GitLab \"GitLab\"), [Reddit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddit \"Reddit\"), [Qt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qt_\\(software\\) \"Qt (software)\"), [Stack Exchange](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stack_Exchange \"Stack Exchange\") ([Stack Overflow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stack_Overflow \"Stack Overflow\")), and [Swift](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swift_\\(programming_language\\) \"Swift (programming language)\").\n\nIn March 2016, two relevant informational Internet [RFCs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Request_for_Comments \"Request for Comments\") were published:\n\n-   RFC [7763](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7763) – \"The text/markdown Media Type,\"[\\[2\\]](#cite_note-rfc7763-2) _Informational._\n    \n    Introduces [MIME](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIME \"MIME\") type `text/markdown`.\n    \n-   RFC [7764](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7764) – \"Guidance on Markdown: Design Philosophies, Stability Strategies, and Select Registrations,\"[\\[7\\]](#cite_note-rfc7764-7) _Informational._\n    \n    Discusses and registers the variants [MultiMarkdown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MultiMarkdown \"MultiMarkdown\"), [GitHub Flavored Markdown](#GFM) (GFM), [Pandoc](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandoc \"Pandoc\"), and Markdown Extra (among others).[\\[31\\]](#cite_note-IANA-32)\n    \n\nWebsites including [Bitbucket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitbucket \"Bitbucket\"), [Diaspora](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaspora_\\(social_network\\) \"Diaspora (social network)\"), [Discord](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discord \"Discord\"),[\\[32\\]](#cite_note-33) [GitHub](#GFM),[\\[33\\]](#cite_note-gfm_on_github-34) [OpenStreetMap](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenStreetMap \"OpenStreetMap\"), [Reddit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddit \"Reddit\"),[\\[34\\]](#cite_note-35) [SourceForge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SourceForge \"SourceForge\")[\\[35\\]](#cite_note-36) and [Stack Exchange](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stack_Exchange \"Stack Exchange\")[\\[36\\]](#cite_note-37) use variants of Markdown to make discussions between users easier.\n\nDepending on implementation, basic inline [HTML tags](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML_tag \"HTML tag\") may be supported.[\\[37\\]](#cite_note-38)\n\nItalic text may be implemented by `_underscores_` or `*single-asterisks*`.[\\[38\\]](#cite_note-italic-39)\n\nMany platforms implement spoiler formatting that hides text until hovered, clicked or tapped. The most common markup is ||spoiler|| used by Discord[\\[39\\]](#cite_note-40), Telegram[\\[40\\]](#cite_note-41)[\\[41\\]](#cite_note-42), various Matrix clients[\\[42\\]](#cite_note-43), now defunct Guilded[\\[43\\]](#cite_note-44), a forum called Flarum[\\[44\\]](#cite_note-45), a NodeBB plugin[\\[45\\]](#cite_note-46), the imageboard engine JSChan[\\[46\\]](#cite_note-47) and possibly more.\n\n### GitHub Flavored Markdown\n\n\\[[edit](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Markdown&action=edit&section=5 \"Edit section: GitHub Flavored Markdown\")\\]\n\n[GitHub](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GitHub \"GitHub\") had been using its own variant of Markdown since as early as 2009,[\\[47\\]](#cite_note-48) which added support for additional formatting such as tables and nesting [block content](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML_element#Block_elements \"HTML element\") inside list elements, as well as GitHub-specific features such as auto-linking references to commits, issues, usernames, etc.\n\nIn 2017, GitHub released a formal specification of its [GitHub Flavored Markdown](https://github.github.com/gfm/) (GFM) that is based on [CommonMark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CommonMark \"CommonMark\").[\\[33\\]](#cite_note-gfm_on_github-34) It is a [strict superset](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superset \"Superset\") of CommonMark, following its specification exactly except for tables, [strikethrough](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strikethrough \"Strikethrough\"), [autolinks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_hyperlinking \"Automatic hyperlinking\") and task lists, which GFM adds as extensions.[\\[48\\]](#cite_note-49)\n\nAccordingly, GitHub also changed the parser used on their sites, which required that some documents be changed. For instance, GFM now requires that the [hash symbol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_sign \"Number sign\") that creates a heading be separated from the heading text by a space character.\n\nMarkdown Extra is a [lightweight markup language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightweight_markup_language \"Lightweight markup language\") based on Markdown implemented in [PHP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PHP \"PHP\") (originally), [Python](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_\\(programming_language\\) \"Python (programming language)\") and [Ruby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_\\(programming_language\\) \"Ruby (programming language)\").[\\[49\\]](#cite_note-fortin-2018-50) It adds the following features that are not available with regular Markdown:\n\n-   Markdown markup inside [HTML](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML \"HTML\") blocks\n-   Elements with id/class attribute\n-   \"Fenced code blocks\" that span multiple lines of code\n-   Tables[\\[49\\]](#cite_note-fortin-2018-50)\n-   Definition lists\n-   Footnotes\n-   Abbreviations\n\nMarkdown Extra is supported in some [content management systems](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_system \"Content management system\") such as [Drupal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drupal \"Drupal\"),[\\[50\\]](#cite_note-51) [Grav (CMS)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grav_\\(CMS\\) \"Grav (CMS)\"), [Textpattern CMS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textpattern \"Textpattern\")[\\[51\\]](#cite_note-52) and [TYPO3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TYPO3 \"TYPO3\").[\\[52\\]](#cite_note-53)\n\nText using Markdown syntax\n\nCorresponding HTML produced by a Markdown processor\n\nText viewed in a browser\n\nHeading\n\\=======\n\nSub-heading\n\\-----------\n\n\\# Alternative heading\n\n\\## Alternative sub-heading\n\nParagraphs are separated \nby a blank line.\n\nTwo spaces at the end of a line  \nproduce a line break.\n\n<h1\\>Heading</h1\\>\n\n<h2\\>Sub-heading</h2\\>\n\n<h1\\>Alternative heading</h1\\>\n\n<h2\\>Alternative sub-heading</h2\\>\n\n<p\\>Paragraphs are separated\nby a blank line.</p\\>\n\n<p\\>Two spaces at the end of a line<br />\nproduce a line break.</p\\>\n\nHeading\n\nSub-heading\n\nAlternative heading\n\nAlternative sub-heading\n\nParagraphs are separated by a blank line.\n\nTwo spaces at the end of a line  \nproduce a line break.\n\nText attributes \\*italic\\*, \\*\\*bold\\*\\*, \\`monospace\\`.\n\nHorizontal rule:\n\n---\n\n<p\\>Text attributes <em\\>italic</em\\>, <strong\\>bold</strong\\>, <code\\>monospace</code\\>.</p\\>\n\n<p\\>Horizontal rule:</p\\>\n\n<hr />\n\nText attributes _italic_, **bold**, `monospace`.\n\nHorizontal rule:\n\n* * *\n\nBullet lists nested within numbered list:\n\n  1. fruits\n     \\* apple\n     \\* banana\n  2. vegetables\n     \\- carrot\n     \\- broccoli\n\n<p\\>Bullet lists nested within numbered list:</p\\>\n\n<ol\\>\n  <li\\>fruits <ul\\>\n      <li\\>apple</li\\>\n      <li\\>banana</li\\>\n  </ul\\></li\\>\n  <li\\>vegetables <ul\\>\n      <li\\>carrot</li\\>\n      <li\\>broccoli</li\\>\n  </ul\\></li\\>\n</ol\\>\n\nBullet lists nested within numbered list:\n\n1.  fruits\n    -   apple\n    -   banana\n2.  vegetables\n    -   carrot\n    -   broccoli\n\nA \\[link\\](http://example.com).\n\n!\\[Image\\](Icon-pictures.png \"icon\")\n\n\\> Markdown uses email-style\ncharacters for blockquoting.\n\\>\n\\> Multiple paragraphs need to be prepended individually.\n\nMost inline <abbr title=\"Hypertext Markup Language\">HTML</abbr> tags are supported.\n\n<p\\>A <a href\\=\"http://example.com\"\\>link</a\\>.</p\\>\n\n<p\\><img alt\\=\"Image\" title\\=\"icon\" src\\=\"Icon-pictures.png\" /></p\\>\n\n<blockquote\\>\n<p\\>Markdown uses email-style characters for blockquoting.</p\\>\n<p\\>Multiple paragraphs need to be prepended individually.</p\\>\n</blockquote\\>\n\n<p\\>Most inline <abbr title\\=\"Hypertext Markup Language\"\\>HTML</abbr\\> tags are supported.</p\\>\n\nA [link](https://example.com/).\n\n![Image](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Icon-pictures.png?utm_source=en.wikipedia.org&utm_campaign=parser&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)\n\n> Markdown uses email-style characters for blockquoting.\n> \n> Multiple paragraphs need to be prepended individually.\n\nMost inline HTML tags are supported.\n\nImplementations of Markdown are available for over a dozen [programming languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_language \"Programming language\"); in addition, many [applications](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_software \"Application software\"), platforms and [frameworks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_framework \"Software framework\") support Markdown.[\\[53\\]](#cite_note-54) For example, Markdown [plugins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_\\(computing\\) \"Plug-in (computing)\") exist for every major [blogging](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog \"Blog\") platform.[\\[13\\]](#cite_note-ArsTechnica2014-13)\n\nWhile Markdown is a minimal markup language and is read and edited with a normal [text editor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_editor \"Text editor\"), there are specially designed editors that preview the files with styles, which are available for all major platforms. Many general-purpose text and [code editors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source-code_editor \"Source-code editor\") have [syntax highlighting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syntax_highlighting \"Syntax highlighting\") plugins for Markdown built into them or available as optional download. Editors may feature a side-by-side preview window or render the code directly in a [WYSIWYG](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WYSIWYG \"WYSIWYG\") fashion.\n\n-   [Comparison of document markup languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_document_markup_languages \"Comparison of document markup languages\")\n-   [Comparison of documentation generators](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_documentation_generators \"Comparison of documentation generators\")\n-   [Comparison of wiki software](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_wiki_software \"Comparison of wiki software\")\n-   [Lightweight markup language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightweight_markup_language \"Lightweight markup language\")\n-   [List of markup languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_markup_languages \"List of markup languages\")\n-   [List of text editors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_text_editors \"List of text editors\")\n-   [Wiki markup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki_markup \"Wiki markup\")\n\n1.  [↑](#cite_ref-17) Technically HTML description lists\n\n1.  [↑](#cite_ref-df-2022_1-0) Gruber, John (8 January 2014). [\"The Markdown File Extension\"](https://daringfireball.net/linked/2014/01/08/markdown-extension). The Daring Fireball Company, LLC. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200712120733/https://daringfireball.net/linked/2014/01/08/markdown-extension) from the original on 12 July 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2022. Too late now, I suppose, but the only file extension I would endorse is \".markdown\", for the same reason offered by Hilton Lipschitz: _We no longer live in a 8.3 world, so we should be using the most descriptive file extensions. It's sad that all our operating systems rely on this stupid convention instead of the better creator code or a metadata model, but great that they now support longer file extensions._\n2.  [1](#cite_ref-rfc7763_2-0) [2](#cite_ref-rfc7763_2-1) [3](#cite_ref-rfc7763_2-2) [4](#cite_ref-rfc7763_2-3) S. Leonard (March 2016). [_The text/markdown Media Type_](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7763). [Internet Engineering Task Force](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Engineering_Task_Force \"Internet Engineering Task Force\"). [doi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_\\(identifier\\) \"Doi (identifier)\"):[10.17487/RFC7763](https://doi.org/10.17487%2FRFC7763). [ISSN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISSN_\\(identifier\\) \"ISSN (identifier)\") [2070-1721](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/2070-1721). [RFC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Request_for_Comments \"Request for Comments\") [7763](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc7763). _Informational._\n3.  [↑](#cite_ref-markdown-swartz_3-0) [Swartz, Aaron](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz \"Aaron Swartz\") (19 March 2004). [\"Markdown\"](http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/001189). _Aaron Swartz: The Weblog_. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20171224200232/http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/001189) from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2013.\n4.  [↑](#cite_ref-gruber-2004-release_4-0) [Gruber, John](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gruber \"John Gruber\"). [\"Markdown\"](https://web.archive.org/web/20040311230924/https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/index.text). _[Daring Fireball](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daring_Fireball \"Daring Fireball\")_. Archived from [the original](https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/index.text) on 11 March 2004. Retrieved 20 August 2022.\n5.  [1](#cite_ref-md_5-0) [2](#cite_ref-md_5-1) [3](#cite_ref-md_5-2) Markdown 1.0.1 readme source code [\"Daring Fireball – Markdown\"](https://web.archive.org/web/20040402182332/http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/). 17 December 2004. Archived from [the original](http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/) on 2 April 2004.\n6.  [↑](#cite_ref-license_6-0) [\"Markdown: License\"](http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/license). Daring Fireball. 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While Markdown's syntax has been influenced by several existing text-to-HTML filters — including Setext, atx, Textile, reStructuredText, Grutatext[\\[15\\]](#cite_note-grutatext-15), and EtText[\\[16\\]](#cite_note-ettext-16) — the single biggest source of inspiration for Markdown's syntax is the format of plain text email.\"\n10.  [↑](#cite_ref-llm-markdown_10-0) Dillet, Romain (6 March 2025). [\"Mistral adds a new API that turns any PDF document into an AI-ready Markdown file\"](https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/06/mistrals-new-ocr-api-turns-any-pdf-document-into-an-ai-ready-markdown-file/). _TechCrunch_. Retrieved 7 September 2025.\n11.  [↑](#cite_ref-11) [\"Daring Fireball: Introducing Markdown\"](https://daringfireball.net/2004/03/introducing_markdown). _daringfireball.net_. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200920182442/https://daringfireball.net/2004/03/introducing_markdown) from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.\n12.  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[_Markdown for Writers_](https://books.apple.com/jp/book/markdown-for-writers-2nd-ed-rev/id1604646441) (2nd, revised ed.). Gene Wilburn. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_\\(identifier\\) \"ISBN (identifier)\") [978-1-895934-15-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-895934-15-1 \"Special:BookSources/978-1-895934-15-1\").\n\n-   [Official website](https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/) for original John Gruber markup","wordCount":2737,"truncated":false,"note":"Extracted with Firefox reader-mode rules (Readability) and converted to Markdown. JavaScript is not executed, so client-rendered pages return not_extractable rather than an empty page passed off as the article.","ts":"2026-09-15T20:58:09.096Z"}