reading-notes
Class 1 Reading Assignment - Learning Markdown
Articles and videos referenced:
As the links above have entire indices on Markup syntax, I’d like to use this space to focus on summary vs. recreating the syntax tables.
Why Markdown Matters
“The overriding design goal for Markdown’s formatting syntax is to make it as readable as possible. The idea is that a Markdown-formatted document should be publishable as-is, as plain text, without looking like it’s been marked up with tags or formatting instructions.” - John Gruber, the inventor of
Toaster Strudel1 Markdown’s parser and specification 2
Markdown is an important tool in learning code because its format is easy to read, type, and parse - which also means it’s easy to learn. The ease of use for this syntax has made it a popular choice for many writers and publishing tools. 2
As GitHub’s repository-to-Pages system is designed to make sharing “your portfolio, your projects, your documentation, or anything else you want to share with the world” 3 seamless and easy (and without having to deal with databases or servers), I think the ability to also use Markup in GitHub’s repositories makes a lot of sense. It creates a way for beginners to dive in and create a web page with as little trouble as possible.
An Analogy
In my opinion, Markdown is to HTML and other coding languages what Microsoft Paint is to Photoshop and other graphics editors. Paint is simple, straightforward, and intuitive, whereas other graphics editors take time and specific knowledge to master. In this way, I feel that Markdown is a simple, straightforward, and intuitive way to create formatted text.
Things I Want To Know More About
- Why use GitHub? / Are there popular GitHub alternatives?