Markdown is a plain text format for writing structured documents. The design goal of Markdown is readability — the source text should remain easy to read even without rendering.

Markdown is widely used for:

• Blogging
• README files
• Documentation
• Messaging platforms
• Static site generators

I personally use Markdown to write this blog and take notes in Obsidian.

History and Standards

Markdown was created in 2004 by John Gruber in collaboration with Aaron Swartz. The original implementation did not have a strict specification, which led to inconsistencies between platforms.

Over time, formal standards appeared:

1. CommonMark

CommonMark is a formal specification that defines how Markdown should behave. It standardizes the core syntax and resolves ambiguities of the original implementation.

2. GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM)

GFM is based on CommonMark and adds extra features such as:

• Task lists
• Tables
• Strikethrough
• Autolinks

3. Other Extensions

Some tools extend Markdown further. For example, Obsidian supports wiki links:

[[Note name]]

Wiki links originate from wiki systems and are not part of CommonMark or GFM. They are tool-specific extensions.

CommonMark Features

Headings

Heading 1

Heading 2

Heading 3

Heading 4

Heading 5

Heading 6

# Heading 1

## Heading 2

### Heading 3

#### Heading 4

##### Heading 5

###### Heading 6

Paragraphs

Paragraphs are separated by a blank line.

Second paragraph.

Paragraphs are separated
by a blank line.

Second paragraph.

Text formatting

italic, bold, inline code.

_italic_, **bold**, `inline code`.

Lists

Unordered list:

• Item
• Item
  • Subitem
• Item

Ordered list:

1. Item
2. Item
   1. Subitem
3. Item

Unordered list:

- Item
- Item
  - Subitem
- Item

Ordered list:

1. Item
2. Item
   1. Subitem
3. Item

Line dividers

---

Code blocks

// code block
console.log("Hello, world!");

```js
// code block
console.log("Hello, world!");
```

Blockquotes

Quote

Nested quote

> Quote
>
> > Nested quote

Links and Images

My website

[My website](https://efimish.github.io)

![My website favicon](https://efimish.github.io/favicon-192.png)

GFM Extensions

Strikethrough

strikethrough

~~strikethrough~~

Task lists

• Task 1
• Task 2
  • Subtask 1
  • Subtask 2
• Task 4

- [x] Task 1
- [ ] Task 2
  - [x] Subtask 1
  - [ ] Subtask 2
- [x] Task 4

Tables

Table:

Table with aligned columns:

Table:

| First Header | Second Header |
| ------------ | ------------- |
| Content Cell | Content Cell  |
| Content Cell | Content Cell  |

Table with aligned columns:

| Left Aligned | Center Aligned | Right Aligned |
| :----------- | :------------: | ------------: |
| 2025-06-01   |      some      |         $4.99 |
| 2025-06-02   |     wordy      |           $99 |
| 2025-06-03   |      text      |          $799 |

Footnotes

First footnote¹. Second footnote². Named footnote³.

First footnote[^1].
Second footnote[^2].
Named footnote[^named].

[^1]: This is the first footnote.

[^2]: This is the second footnote.

[^named]: This is the named footnote.

Obsidian / Wiki-style Extensions

Wiki Links and Embeds

Markdown

Wiki Links and Embeds

[[Markdown]]

[[#Wiki Links and Embeds]]

![[favicon-192.png]]