Markdown and Editors¶

Markdown has become the standard format for technical documentation. Its plain-text nature makes it portable, version-controllable, and accessible. Choosing the right editor improves writing efficiency and quality.

Why Markdown¶

Markdown offers significant advantages for technical writing:

• Plain text: Works with any editor, version control friendly
• Readable source: Content is readable without rendering
• Portable: Convert to HTML, PDF, DOCX, and more
• Extensible: Flavors and extensions add capabilities
• Developer-friendly: Writers and developers use the same tools

General-Purpose Editors¶

Visual Studio Code¶

VS Code is the most popular editor for documentation-as-code.

Strengths:

• Excellent Markdown support out of the box
• Extensive extension ecosystem
• Integrated terminal for builds
• Git integration
• Free and cross-platform

Key Extensions:

Configuration Example:

{
  "editor.wordWrap": "on",
  "editor.quickSuggestions": {
    "other": true,
    "comments": false,
    "strings": false
  },
  "markdown.preview.scrollEditorWithPreview": true,
  "markdown.preview.scrollPreviewWithEditor": true,
  "[markdown]": {
    "editor.defaultFormatter": "yzhang.markdown-all-in-one"
  }
}

Sublime Text¶

Lightweight and fast with strong Markdown support.

Strengths:

• Extremely fast performance
• Minimal resource usage
• Multi-cursor editing
• Powerful search and replace

Useful Packages:

• MarkdownEditing
• MarkdownPreview
• TableEditor

Vim/Neovim¶

For keyboard-focused writers.

Strengths:

• Modal editing efficiency
• Highly customizable
• Works over SSH
• Dedicated following

Useful Plugins:

• vim-markdown
• vim-table-mode
• coc.nvim (LSP support)

Markdown-Specific Editors¶

Typora¶

WYSIWYG Markdown editor with seamless editing.

Strengths:

• Live preview while typing
• Clean, distraction-free interface
• Good table and diagram support
• Cross-platform

Best For: Writers who prefer visual editing

Obsidian¶

Knowledge management with Markdown.

Strengths:

• Linking between documents
• Graph visualization
• Local-first (your files)
• Plugin ecosystem

Best For: Personal knowledge bases, note-taking

iA Writer¶

Minimalist writing focused on prose.

Strengths:

• Distraction-free design
• Focus mode
• Syntax highlighting for prose
• Cross-platform with sync

Best For: Long-form writing, focus on prose quality

Online Editors¶

HackMD / CodiMD¶

Collaborative Markdown editing.

Strengths:

• Real-time collaboration
• Presentation mode
• Version history
• Self-hostable (CodiMD)

Best For: Team collaboration, shared documents

StackEdit¶

Browser-based Markdown editor.

Strengths:

• Works anywhere with a browser
• Syncs with cloud storage
• Offline support
• Publishing integrations

Best For: Quick edits, no installation needed

Markdown Syntax¶

Basic Syntax¶

# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3

**Bold text**
*Italic text*
~~Strikethrough~~

- Unordered list item
- Another item

1. Ordered list
2. Second item

[Link text](https://example.com)
![Alt text](image.png)

`inline code`

```python
code block

Blockquote

Horizontal rule

### Extended Syntax

Many documentation platforms support extended Markdown:

**Tables:**
```markdown
| Header 1 | Header 2 |
|----------|----------|
| Cell 1   | Cell 2   |
| Cell 3   | Cell 4   |

Task Lists:

- [x] Completed task
- [ ] Incomplete task

Footnotes:

Here's a sentence with a footnote.[^1]

[^1]: This is the footnote.

Definition Lists:

Term
: Definition of the term

Admonitions (with plugins):

!!! warning "Warning Title"
    Warning content here.

Markdown Flavors¶

Different platforms use different Markdown extensions:

Know which flavor your platform supports to use available features effectively.

Writing Workflow¶

Efficient Writing¶

1. Write first, format later: Get content down before perfecting formatting
2. Use snippets: Create shortcuts for common patterns
3. Preview regularly: Catch formatting issues early
4. Lint your Markdown: Catch style issues automatically

VS Code Snippets Example¶

{
  "Admonition Note": {
    "prefix": "note",
    "body": [
      "!!! note \"$1\"",
      "    $2"
    ],
    "description": "Insert a note admonition"
  },
  "Code Block": {
    "prefix": "code",
    "body": [
      "```${1:language}",
      "$2",
      "```"
    ],
    "description": "Insert a code block"
  }
}

Summary¶

Choosing a Markdown editor depends on your preferences:

• VS Code: Most versatile, best for docs-as-code
• Typora: Best WYSIWYG experience
• Obsidian: Best for knowledge management
• iA Writer: Best for prose focus

Master your chosen editor and Markdown syntax to write documentation efficiently.

Next: Documentation Platforms covers comprehensive documentation hosting solutions.