How Markdown conversion works
Markdown is a lightweight markup language that uses plain-text symbols — # for headings, * for emphasis, - for list items — which a converter turns into the equivalent HTML tags. The original idea is that the source stays readable even before it's rendered.
This converter parses your text block by block (headings, lists, code fences, paragraphs) and then handles inline formatting (bold, italic, links, inline code). The HTML it produces is escaped where needed so the output is safe to drop into a page.
Worked example
The Markdown # Title followed by - one and - two becomes:
<h1>Title</h1>.<ul> with two <li> items.**x** → <strong>x</strong>.Supported syntax
This converter handles the most common Markdown: ATX headings (# … ######), unordered and ordered lists, bold (**…**), italic (*…*), inline `code`, fenced code blocks (```), links [text](url), blockquotes (>) and horizontal rules (---). It's intentionally simple and dependency-free, so very advanced features like tables or footnotes aren't included.