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Markdown is a lightweight markup language that many technical professionals
use to create and edit technical documents. With Markdown, you write text
in a plain text editor (such as vi or Emacs), inserting special characters
to create headers, boldface, bullets, and so on. For example, the following
example shows a simple technical document formatted with Markdown:
## bash and ksh
**bash** closely resembles an older shell named **ksh**. The key
*practical* difference between the two shells is as follows:
* More people know bash than ksh, so it is easier to get help for bash
problems than ksh problems.
The rendered version of the preceding technical document looks as follows:
bash and ksh
bash closely resembles an older shell named ksh. The key
practical difference between the two shells is as follows:
More people know bash than ksh, so it is easier to get help for bash
problems than ksh problems.
A Markdown parser converts Markdown files into HTML. Browsers can then
display the resulting HTML to readers.
We recommend becoming comfortable with Markdown by taking one of the following
tutorials:
Congratulations: you've completed the pre-class work for Technical Writing One.
If the in-class portion of Technical Writing One is available in your
organization, please take it. If you'd like to facilitate the in-class portion
of Technical Writing One, see the
facilitator's guide.
A quick compilation of the topics covered in Technical Writing One
is available on the Summary page.
[null,null,["Last updated 2025-03-28 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eMarkdown is a lightweight markup language used to create and edit technical documents using plain text and special characters for formatting.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eMarkdown files are converted into HTML by a Markdown parser, which allows browsers to display the content to readers.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eBash and ksh are similar shells, with bash being more widely used and therefore easier to troubleshoot.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can learn Markdown through online tutorials like www.markdowntutorial.com and Mastering Markdown.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThis page is part of the Technical Writing One pre-class work, with options to continue learning through in-class sessions or facilitator guides.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Markdown is a markup language used to format technical documents in plain text. Special characters are used to create elements like headers, boldface, and bullets. A Markdown parser then converts these files into HTML for browser display. The document illustrates a comparison between bash and ksh shells, highlighting the support available for each. The content recommends tutorials for learning Markdown, and suggests the next steps for the \"Technical Writing One\" course.\n"],null,["# Markdown (optional)\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n| **Estimated Time:** 10 minutes\n\n**Markdown** is a lightweight markup language that many technical professionals\nuse to create and edit technical documents. With Markdown, you write text\nin a plain text editor (such as vi or Emacs), inserting special characters\nto create headers, boldface, bullets, and so on. For example, the following\nexample shows a simple technical document formatted with Markdown: \n\n ## bash and ksh\n\n **bash** closely resembles an older shell named **ksh**. The key\n *practical* difference between the two shells is as follows:\n\n * More people know bash than ksh, so it is easier to get help for bash\n problems than ksh problems.\n\nThe rendered version of the preceding technical document looks as follows:\n\u003e\n\u003e bash and ksh\n\u003e ------------\n\u003e\n\u003e **bash** closely resembles an older shell named **ksh** . The key\n\u003e *practical* difference between the two shells is as follows:\n\u003e\n\u003e - More people know bash than ksh, so it is easier to get help for bash problems than ksh problems.\n\nA Markdown parser converts Markdown files into HTML. Browsers can then\ndisplay the resulting HTML to readers.\n\nWe recommend becoming comfortable with Markdown by taking one of the following\ntutorials:\n\n- [www.markdowntutorial.com](https://www.markdowntutorial.com/)\n- [Mastering\n Markdown](https://guides.github.com/features/mastering-markdown/)\n\nWhat's next?\n------------\n\nCongratulations: you've completed the pre-class work for Technical Writing One.\n\nIf the in-class portion of Technical Writing One is available in your\norganization, please take it. If you'd like to facilitate the in-class portion\nof Technical Writing One, see the\n[facilitator's guide](/tech-writing/for-instructors/one/instructors-guide).\n\nA quick compilation of the topics covered in Technical Writing One\nis available on the [Summary](/tech-writing/one/summary) page."]]