Displaying code in Markdown
If you're writing technical documentation you may want a way to delineate blocks of code, sometimes known as a code fence. The result is also known as a code block.
Creating a code block, aka code fence
The simplest way to show code is to wrap it between two lines consisting of 3 backticks in a row:
```
title: Welcome to Example.com
```
And the result would be:
title: Welcome to Example.com
You can get exactly the same effect by preceding each line of code with exactly 4 spaces.
Keyword highlighting for computer languages
Suppose you're documenting YAML. You could follow the 3 backticks with the word yaml
to show it with keyword highlighting:
```yaml
title: Welcome to Example.com
```
The published result would show like this:
title: Welcome to Example.com
Many, many languages are supported. Here are a few examples:
bash
Markdown source:
```bash
echo hello, world.
```
Published result:
echo hello, world.
Javascript
Markdown source:
```js
document.write('hello, world.')
```
Published result:
document.write('hello, world.')
Markdown
Markdown source:
```markdown
### hello, world.
```
Published result:
### hello, world.
Markdown (alternative)
Markdown source:
```md
### hello, world.
```
Published result:
### hello, world.
Python
Markdown source:
```python
print("hello, world.")
```
Published result:
print("hello, world.")
Languages supported
There are too many languages to make an exhaustive list here, but you can find them
in the PrismJS source file components.json
under languages.
Here are the most common ones.
| Language | Tag |
|---|---|
| Applecript | applescript |
| Asciidoc | asciidoc |
| ASP.NET | aspnet |
| batch files | batch |
| CSS | css |
| Go | go |
| HTTP | http |
| Java | java |
| Javascript | js |
| JSON | json |
| Markup | markup |
| Markdown | markdown |
| Markdown | md |
| Objective-C | objectivec |
| PHP | php |
| Powershell | powershell |
| Python | py |
| Ruby | ruby |
| SASS | sass |
| SQL | sql |
| Swift | swift |
| VB.NET | vbnet |
| Vim | vim |
| Wiki | yaml |
Complete list can be found in the "languages" node of the PrismJS source file components.json.