paragraph

A paragraph is a block of raw text that starts with a valid paragraph starter and ends with a newline character. Paragraphs consist of one or more lines of text, and may contain inline elements such as links, code snippets, and equations.

Paragraph elements

Beyond raw text, paragraphs also can contain various markup which indicates inline elements. Mechdown supports the following inline markup:

- Text Markup
  - **Bold Text**
  - *Italic Text*
  - __Underline Text__
  - ~~Strikethough Text~~
  - !!Highlighted Text!!
- Inline Elements
  - `Inline code blocks`
  - {{inline-mech := syntax + "highlighting"}}
  - $$\pm\sqrt{inline^2 + equation^2}$$
- Link Elements
  - [Hyperlinks](#)
  - Autonumbered inline references [MECH]
  - Autonumbered footnote references[^1]
  - Section references §10.3

This renders as

Text Markup

Bold Text
Italic Text
Underline Text
~~Strikethough Text~~
Highlighted Text

Inline Elements

Inline code blocks
inline-mech:=syntax+"highlighting"

Link Elements

Hyperlinks
Autonumbered inline references [1]
Autonumbered footnote references1
Section references §10.3

References

Mechdown supports various references including footnotes, citations, and section references.

Footnotes are used to indicate additional information or references at the bottom of the document. They are referenced inline using a [^label] syntax. Footnotes are defined as section elements, and are rendered where they are defined. They are indicated with a [^label]: syntax, followed by the footnote text.

Citations are used to reference external sources or documents. They are indicated inline using a [label] syntax. Citations are defined as section elements, and are rendered at the bottom of the document, in an auto-generated "Works Cited" section. They are indicated with a [label]: syntax, followed by the citation text and optional additional information in parentheses. The label used in reference must match the label used in the citation definition.

Section references are inline references to section titles, and are indicated with a § followed by the section number, or a unique section label.

Examples

This is a paragraph with a footnote reference.[^1] Here is a citation reference.[MECH] Finally, we have a section reference to §10.4.

[^1]: This is the text of the footnote.
[MECH]: Mech Programming Language. (2024). Retrieved from https://mech-lang.org (Mech Official Website)

This renders as:

This is a paragraph with a footnote reference.1 Here is a citation reference.[2] Finally, we have a section reference to §10.4.

This is the text of the footnote.

[3]: Mech Programming Language. (2024). Retrieved from https://mech-lang.org (Mech Official Website)

Although the referenec is defined here in the document, it will be rendered at the bottom of the document in the "Works Cited" section. This is in contrast to footnotes, which are rendered where they are defined.