Introduction to Markdown

By the end of this lesson you'll be able to write a heading, split text into clean paragraphs, and make words bold or italic — and, crucially, you'll know exactly how each symbol renders on screen.

1. Headings

A heading is a title for a section. In Markdown you make one by starting a line with one or more # symbols, then a space, then your text. The number of # signs sets the level: one # is the biggest (level 1), and six ###### is the smallest (level 6). Use a single level-1 heading for the page title and work down from there.

# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3
#### Heading 4
##### Heading 5
###### Heading 6

Notice how each extra # makes the heading smaller. Run the block below to print this same Markdown, then paste it into a previewer to watch it render.

// 🎯 Paste this Markdown into a real editor (VS Code preview, Dillinger.io)
// and watch each line become a different heading size.
console.log(`
# Heading 1 — the biggest, use it once for the title
## Heading 2 — major sections
### Heading 3 — subsections
#### Heading 4
##### Heading 5
###### Heading 6 — the smallest

Just normal paragraph text sits with no symbols at all.
`);

___ My Recipe Book        👉 use ONE #  then a space
___ Breakfast Ideas       👉 use TWO ## then a space

2. Paragraphs & Line Breaks

A paragraph is just a block of normal text — no symbols needed. The catch that trips up everyone at first: to start a new paragraph you must leave a completely blank line between blocks. Pressing Enter once is not enough — a single line break is ignored, and the two lines render as one continuous paragraph.

Roses are red
violets are blue.

Markdown is easy
and so are you.

See how "Roses are red" and "violets are blue" joined into one line? The single line break was ignored. The blank line is what created the second paragraph. If you genuinely want a hard line break inside a paragraph, end the line with two spaces — but blank lines for new paragraphs is the rule you'll use 99% of the time.

// 🎯 Blank lines make NEW paragraphs. A single line break does NOT.
// Paste this in and notice lines 1+2 join, but a blank line splits them.
console.log(`
This line and
this line render as ONE paragraph (the break is ignored).

This is a brand-new paragraph because of the blank line above it.
`);

3. Emphasis: Bold & Italic

To emphasise words, you wrap them in asterisks. One asterisk on each side gives italic: *like this*. Two asterisks on each side gives bold: **like this**. Three gives both at once: ***like this***. The asterisks must hug the words with no spaces inside — ** word ** won't render.

Normal text with *italic* in it.
Now some **bold** for contrast.
And ***both at once*** for impact.

// 🎯 Emphasis is just symbols wrapped around your words.
// Paste this into a Markdown preview to see it render.
console.log(`
This word is **bold**.
This word is *italic*.
This is ***bold and italic*** at the same time.

You can mix them in a sentence: the **total** was *exactly* right.
`);

This course is ___free___ for everyone   👉 wrap free in ** ** for bold
and you can start ___today___ right now.  👉 wrap today in *  *  for italic

🎯 MINI-CHALLENGE — write this in Markdown yourself:
// 1. A level-1 heading with your name
// 2. A level-2 heading that says "About Me"
// 3. One paragraph describing yourself, with your
//    favourite hobby in *italic* and your job in **bold**
//
// (write your Markdown in a real editor and preview it)