```
### Code Blocks
Pre-formatted code blocks are used for writing about programming or
markup source code. Rather than forming normal paragraphs, the lines
of a code block are interpreted literally. Markdown wraps a code block
in both `` and `` tags.
To produce a code block in Markdown, simply indent every line of the
block by at least 4 spaces or 1 tab.
This is a normal paragraph:
```
This is a code block.
```
Here is an example of AppleScript:
```
tell application "Foo"
beep
end tell
```
A code block continues until it reaches a line that is not indented
(or the end of the article).
Within a code block, ampersands ( `&`) and angle brackets ( `<` and `>`)
are automatically converted into HTML entities. This makes it very
easy to include example HTML source code using Markdown – just paste
it and indent it, and Markdown will handle the hassle of encoding the
ampersands and angle brackets. For example, this:
```
```
Regular Markdown syntax is not processed within code blocks. E.g.,
asterisks are just literal asterisks within a code block. This means
it’s also easy to use Markdown to write about Markdown’s own syntax.
```
tell application "Foo"
beep
end tell
```
## Span Elements
### Links
Markdown supports two style of links: _inline_ and _reference_.
In both styles, the link text is delimited by \[square brackets\].
To create an inline link, use a set of regular parentheses immediately
after the link text’s closing square bracket. Inside the parentheses,
put the URL where you want the link to point, along with an _optional_
title for the link, surrounded in quotes. For example:
This is [an example](http://example.com/) inline link.
[This link](http://example.net/) has no title attribute.
### Emphasis
Markdown treats asterisks ( `*`) and underscores ( `_`) as indicators of
emphasis. Text wrapped with one `*` or `_` will be wrapped with an
HTML `` tag; double `*`’s or `_`’s will be wrapped with an HTML
`` tag. E.g., this input:
_single asterisks_
_single underscores_
**double asterisks**
**double underscores**
### Code
To indicate a span of code, wrap it with backtick quotes ( `` ` ``).
Unlike a pre-formatted code block, a code span indicates code within a
normal paragraph. For example:
Use the `printf()` function.