How do I format my posts using Markdown or HTML?

When posting on Code Review Stack Exchange, you can use the visual editor (for questions and answers, but not comments), Markdown , and some HTML. If you're new to Markdown, you may want to visit the official Markdown syntax reference page.

Here are some tips for common formatting scenarios; more details are available on our advanced editing help page.

Linebreaks

End a line with two spaces to add a `
` linebreak:

How do I love thee? 
Let me count the ways

New paragraphs only occur when there is a blank line. A single carriage does not create a new paragraph.

Italics and Bold

*This is italicized*, and so is _this_.
**This is bold**, and so is __this__.
Use ***italics and bold together*** if you ___have to___.

Links

There are three ways to write links. Each is easier to read than the last:

Here's an inline link to [Google](https://www.google.com/).
Here's a reference-style link to [Google][1].
Here's a very readable link to [Yahoo!][yahoo].
 [1]: https://www.google.com/
 [yahoo]: https://www.yahoo.com/

The link definitions can appear anywhere in the document -- before or after the place where you use them. The link definition names [1] and [yahoo] can be any unique string, and are case-insensitive; [yahoo] is the same as [YAHOO].

Advanced Links

Links can have a title attribute, which will show up on hover. Title attributes can also be added; they are helpful if the link itself is not descriptive enough to tell users where they're going.

Here's a [poorly-named link](https://www.google.com/ "Google").
Never write "[click here][^2]".
Visit [us][web].
 [^2]: https://www.w3.org/QA/Tips/noClickHere
 (Advice against the phrase "click here")
 [web]: https://programmers.stackexchange.com/ "Programmers Stack Exchange"

You can also use standard HTML hyperlink syntax.

<a href="https://example.com" title="example">example</a>

Simple lists

A bulleted <ul> list:

- Use a minus sign for a bullet
+ Or plus sign
* Or an asterisk

A numbered <ol> list:

1. Numbered lists are easy
2. Markdown keeps track of the numbers for you
7. So this will be item 3.

A double-spaced list:

- This list gets wrapped in `<p>` tags
 
- So there will be extra space between items

Simple blockquotes

Add a `>` to the beginning of any line to create a ``.

> The syntax is based on the way email programs> usually do quotations. You don't need to hard-wrap> the paragraphs in your blockquotes, but it looks much nicer if you do. Depends how lazy you feel.

Comment Formatting

Comments support only bold, italic, code and links; in addition, a few shorthand links are available.

_italic_ and **bold** text,
inline `code in backticks`,
and [basic links](https://example.com).

Supported shorthand links:

[meta] – link to the current site's Meta; link text is the site name (e.g. "Super User Meta"). Does nothing if the site doesn't have (or already is) a Meta site.
[edit] – link to the edit page for the post the comment is on, i.e. /posts/{id}/edit. Link text is "edit" (capitalization is respected).
[tag:tagname] and [meta-tag:tagname] – link to the given tag's page. Link text is the name of the tag. meta-tag only works on meta sites.
[about] – link to the About page. Link text is "about" (capitalization is respected).
[help] - link to the Help Center.
[chat] – link to the current site's chat site, the link text being "{site name} Chat".

For more shorthand links, see the expanded formatting guide.

Images

Images can be added primarily by using the editor toolbar button insert image toolbar button. This brings up a special interface that allows you to upload an image online (through the imgur hosting service) through us - even from your clipboard. Alternatively, it can be input similarly to adding a link:

HTML <img src="https://example.com/img.jpg">
Markdown ![sample image](https://example.com/img.jpg)

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