This week’s thing I like is Markdown. It is a syntax for adding formatting to plain text files in a way that is both still readable as plain text and that can be processed into rich document formats like HTML.
Markdown was first introduced just over 20 years ago by John Gruber and has evolved some since then as various pieces of software have added new features like tables to it. It became a popular format for software documentation that is kept in code repositories, but in general, it is just a good format for text documents. Because it is a standard, fairly simple, and readable as plain text it is easy to work with and can be opened and read by anyone with a computer.
Here’s a sample of what a Markdown file can look like and some of the features it supports:
# Header
This is just some text. You can specify that text is _emphasized_ or **bold**.
Lists are easy to add:
- Eggs
- Bread
- Cheese
- Butter
## Level 2 Header
Markdown also supports links, like [this](https://scottboehmer.com).
And you can add tables in some versions of Markdown too:
| State | Capital |
| -------------- | ------- |
| Michigan | Lansing |
| Washington | Olympia |
| North Carolina | Raleigh |
In addition to using it as a format for code documentation, I’ve found that Markdown is my preferred format for taking notes or writing drafts. It lets my editing experience for those be simple with no worries about fonts, colors, or other style choices that might come up in a program like Word or Google Docs. I also don’t need to worry about a paste of copied text throwing off formatting.
Markdown Basic Syntax (Markdown Guide)
Scott Boehmer 