Why Markdown is essential when you are writing for the web

Learn why Markdown is the go-to tool for clean, structured documentation

Markdown is a writing format created in 2004 by John Gruber, designed to make it easy to convert plain text into structured HTML. It’s a simple yet powerful tool that makes creating web content accessible to everyone, including students, with minimal learning curve. Markdown’s versatility allows users to format text, create lists, insert links, and even embed images—all using basic text editing tools, without the need for traditional word processors like Microsoft Word.

Learning Markdown not only empowers students to create complex documents with ease, but also introduces them to the basics of programming and markup languages. This foundational knowledge increases digital literacy and prepares students for more advanced coding tasks. Markdown is widely used across platforms like GitHub and GitLab for documentation and is the format commonly used in outputs from tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft CoPilot.

Markdown is accessible to everyone. Whether you’re using Wordpad on Windows, TextEdit on macOS, gedit or vim on Linux, you can create and save Markdown files with the .md extension. It’s an easy-to-master tool that bridges the gap between plain text and complex coding languages, making it ideal for students as early as third grade.

In addition to being a practical writing tool, Markdown also encourages digital literacy. By familiarizing students with basic text formatting and markup concepts, it sets the stage for more advanced web development skills. The ability to structure content with ease means students can focus on their writing without worrying about complex formatting. This simplicity and flexibility make it a powerful tool for tasks like note-taking, essay writing, and creating presentations.

Markdown also plays a critical role in the world of open source software and web development. Platforms like GitHub rely on Markdown for creating clean, readable documentation. Many developers use Markdown to document their code, making it easier to share and collaborate with others. Moreover, tools like ChatGPT, Microsoft CoPilot, and other large language models (LLMs) often generate content in Markdown, showcasing its widespread adoption.

By using Markdown, students are not only gaining a tool for easy content creation—they’re also building foundational skills that will help them navigate the world of programming and web development. With a minimal learning curve, Markdown can be quickly adopted and used for a wide range of tasks. It’s an essential tool for developers, educators, and students alike.

Example of Markdown

Headers

# Header 1
## Header 2
### Header 3
#### Header 4
##### Header 5
###### Header 6

Emphasis

*Italic* or _Italic_
**Bold** or __Bold__
***Bold and Italic*** or ___Bold and Italic___

Lists

Unordered lists:

- Item 1
- Item 2
 - Subitem 1
 - Subitem 2

Ordered lists:

1. First item
2. Second item
  1. Subitem 1
  2. Subitem 2

Links

[Link Text](http://url.com)

Images

![Alt Text](http://url.com/image.jpg)

Block quotes

> This is a blockquote.

Code

Inline code`code block`
Code block: 3 back ticks on the line before the code and three back ticks on the line after the code. 

Horizontal rule

---

For more information on formatting, be sure to consult this excellent guide on Github. Happy writing!

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This article is adapted from “Empowering Writing with Markdown” by Don Watkins, and is republished with permission from the author.