Basic Formatting

By the end of this lesson you'll be able to make text bold, italic, and struck through, drop in inline code and syntax-highlighted code blocks, and shape a document with blockquotes and dividers — the everyday toolkit behind every README, GitHub comment, and docs page.

1. Bold, Italic & Bold+Italic

Wrap text in one asterisk or underscore for italic, two for bold, and three for both at once. The marker must touch the text on both sides — **bold**, never ** bold **.

This is *italic* text.
This is _also italic_.
This is **bold** text.
This is __also bold__.
This is ***bold and italic***.

2. Strikethrough & Inline Code

Two tildes on each side (~~like this~~) draw a line through text — handy for "old price, new price". A single backtick on each side makes inline code: a monospace snippet that won't be treated as Markdown, so symbols inside it stay literal.

Was ~~£40~~ now £25.

Run `npm install` to begin.

The `Array.map()` method loops.

Inside code, **stars** stay literal:
`a ** b` means a to the power b.

// 🎯 YOUR TURN — you're writing Markdown for a product page.
// Replace each ___ with the right marker, then press "Run".
// (This editor prints your text; paste the result into a Markdown
//  previewer like dillinger.io to SEE it render.)

console.log("=== Build these lines ===");

// 1) Make the word "Sale" BOLD
console.log("___Sale___ ends Friday!");      // 👉 wrap Sale in **double asterisks**

// 2) Make the word "limited" ITALIC
console.log("Stock is ___limited___.");      // 👉 wrap limi
...

3. Fenced Code Blocks (with highlighting)

For more than a word or two of code, use a fence: three backticks on a line of their own, then your code, then three backticks to close. Write the language name right after the opening fence — ```js — and the renderer colours the keywords, strings, and numbers for you. Skip the language and you still get a code box, just no colours.

```js
function greet(name) {
  return "Hello, " + name + "!";
}
```

```bash
npm install
npm run dev
```

function greet(name) {return "Hello, " + name + "!";}

# shell commandsnpm install npm run dev

4. Blockquotes (and nesting)

Start a line with > to make a blockquote — usually rendered as an indented bar, great for callouts, quotes, or "Note:" boxes. Add a second >> to nest a quote inside a quote. Keep the > on every line you want included.

> Note: save before you run.
> It only takes a second.

> Outer quote
>> Nested reply
>>> Even deeper

5. Horizontal Rules & Line Breaks

Three or more --- (or *** or ___) on a line by themselves draw a horizontal rule — a full-width divider. Line breaks are sneakier: a single newline is usually ignored. To force a hard break within a paragraph, end the line with two spaces or a backslash (\); leave a fully blank line to start a new paragraph.

Section one.

---

Roses are red·· (two trailing spaces)
Violets are blue.

Same line\ (backslash)
New line below.

// 🎯 YOUR TURN — finish this README snippet.
// Replace each ___ then press "Run".

console.log("=== A fenced code block ===");

// 1) Open the fence AND name the language so it gets highlighted
console.log("___js");                 // 👉 three backticks then js  (\`\`\`js)
console.log("const x = 41 + 1;");
console.log("console.log(x);");
console.log("___");                   // 👉 three backticks to CLOSE (\`\`\`)

console.log("");

console.log("=== A blockquote ===");
// 2) Turn this note int
...

// 🎯 MINI-CHALLENGE: write the body of a release note.
// No blanks this time — type the Markdown yourself with console.log(...).
//
// 1. A blockquote (>) warning: "Breaking change in v2.0"
// 2. One sentence with the word "removed" in BOLD (**)
//    and the word "deprecated" in ITALIC (*)
// 3. An inline code mention of \`config.json\`
// 4. A fenced code block tagged "json" with: { "version": 2 }
// 5. A horizontal rule (---) to close the note
//
// ✅ Expected rendered result:
//    A quote
...