Most developers know the basics: **bold** , # heading , [link](url) . But Markdown has features that even experienced writers overlook. Here are the ones worth knowing.

Fenced code blocks with syntax highlighting

The basic syntax:

``` javascript const greeting = 'Hello, world!'; console.log(greeting);

``` ``` `

The language hint after the opening backticks enables syntax highlighting in GitHub, GitLab, Dev.to, Notion, and most Markdown renderers. Common language identifiers: `javascript`, `typescript`, `python`, `bash`, `sql`, `yaml`, `json`, `css`, `html`, `go`, `rust`.

For terminal output: use `bash` or `shell`. For file paths and commands: use `console` or `text`.

## Task lists (GitHub Flavored Markdown)

```markdown - [x] Set up the project - [x] Add authentication - [ ] Write tests - [ ] Deploy to staging ```

Renders as interactive checkboxes on GitHub and GitLab. In a README, this creates a visual progress indicator.…