<p>Markdown is a lightweight <a href="http://stats.stackexchange.com/editing-help" title="editing help">markup language</a> used across the entire Stack Exchange network for <a href="http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/22186/how-do-i-format-my-code-blocks" title="How do I format my code blocks?">post formatting</a>. The language takes many cues from existing conventions for marking up plain text in email; it is designed for maximum readability and "publishability" of both its input and output forms. </p>

<p><sub>Reference: imported excerpt and wiki from the main <a href="http://meta.stackexchange.com/tags/markdown/info">Meta Stack Exchange</a> site.</sub></p>
