In academic and technical writing, references and footnotes are common tools to provide context.
Markdown has some capabilities to include references and notes (although honestly, it’s not one of its strong points, they can be useful if you’re writing this type of documents).
References in Markdown
References in Markdown are useful for managing long or complex links and improving the readability of the text.
Markdown allows you to define link references in one part of the document and then reference them in the text. Sometimes this can be useful for handling multiple links and keeping the document clean.
To do this, first, we define the URL with the link in a references section (for example): For this, we use an identifier in brackets, like [1]:
Now, we can reference this link anywhere in our document, using the indicator. Thus,
The concept of [Markdown][1] is essential for technical documentation.
[1]: https://www.luisllamas.esIn this example, the text “Markdown” is linked to the URL defined at the end of the document using the identifier [1].
Rendered, [Markdown][1] would appear as a normal link.
The best course on Markdown that you can find.
But having all the URLs in one place, instead of inserted into the document. Which can be an advantage in certain types of documents. In others, it will be a disadvantage, to be honest. So whether to use it or not will depend on your needs and working style.
Footnotes in Markdown
Footnotes allow you to add additional information or references to your documents without interrupting the flow of the main text. Footnotes are automatically rendered at the end of the section or the document.
Markdown supports footnotes through a specific syntax. To create a footnote, we add the note with a footnote identifier in brackets followed by a caret (^) to insert a reference in the text.
On the other hand, we define the content of the footnote using the same identifier. This definition can be anywhere in the document. Usually immediately after its use, or at the end.
For example,
Markdown is a lightweight markup language[^2] that makes it easy to write formatted text.
[^2]: Markdown is a language created by John Gruber and Aaron Swartz that is used to format text in a simple and readable way.In the rendered output, “lightweight Markdown” will appear as a link that, when clicked, will take the reader to the footnote at the end of the document.
Markdown is a lightweight markup language1 that is easy to write.
And in the Footnotes area (usually at the end of the chapter or the document) the notes will appear, for example like this 👇
Footnotes
Markdown is a language created by John Gruber and Aaron Swartz that is used to format text in a simple and readable way. ↩