boris/test/markdown/basic-escaping.md

Basic Escaping Test

This file tests character escaping in markdown using backslashes to display literal characters that would otherwise have special meaning.

Escaping Special Characters

You can escape special markdown characters by placing a backslash (\) before them.

Backslash

To display a literal backslash, escape it: \

Backtick

To display a literal backtick, escape it: `

Asterisk

To display a literal asterisk, escape it: *

Underscore

To display a literal underscore, escape it: _

Curly Braces

To display literal curly braces, escape them: { }

Square Brackets

To display literal square brackets, escape them: [ ]

Angle Brackets

To display literal angle brackets, escape them: < >

Parentheses

To display literal parentheses, escape them: ( )

Pound Sign

To display a literal pound sign (hash), escape it: #

Plus Sign

To display a literal plus sign, escape it: +

Minus Sign

To display a literal minus sign (hyphen), escape it: -

Dot

To display a literal dot (period), escape it: .

Exclamation Mark

To display a literal exclamation mark, escape it: !

Pipe

To display a literal pipe character, escape it: |

Escaping in Different Contexts

Escaping in Paragraphs

This paragraph contains escaped characters: *asterisk*, _underscore_, `backtick`.

Escaping in Headings

Heading with *Escaped* Characters

Heading with _Escaped_ Characters

Escaping in Lists

• Item with *escaped asterisk*
• Item with _escaped underscore_
• Item with `escaped backtick`

1. Ordered item with *escaped*
2. Another item with _escaped_

Escaping in Blockquotes

This blockquote contains *escaped* characters.

This blockquote has _escaped_ underscores.

Escaping in Links

You cannot escape characters inside link syntax, but you can escape them in the link text context.

This is a link with *escaped* text.

Multiple Escaped Characters

You can escape multiple characters in sequence.

**This would be bold if not escaped**

***This would be bold and italic if not escaped***

``This would be code if not escaped``

Escaping vs. Not Escaping

Without Escaping

This text has bold and italic formatting.

With Escaping

This text has **escaped bold** and *escaped italic* markers.

Escaping Special Characters in Code

Inside code blocks and inline code, characters are already literal and don't need escaping.

This code block contains *asterisks* and _underscores_ without escaping.

This paragraph contains inline code with *asterisks* that don't need escaping.

Escaping at Word Boundaries

Escaped characters can appear at the start or end of words.

*Start of word

End of word*

_Start of word

End of word_

Escaping with Punctuation

Escaped characters work correctly with adjacent punctuation.

*Asterisk*, with comma.

*Asterisk*. With period.

*Asterisk*! With exclamation.

_Underscore_, with comma.

_Underscore_. With period.

Edge Cases

Escaping Non-Special Characters

Escaping characters that don't have special meaning in markdown typically results in a literal backslash followed by the character.

\a

\b

\c

Multiple Backslashes

\\

\\\

Escaping Spaces

Escaping a space typically doesn't have a special effect: \

Escaping Newlines

Escaping a newline (backslash at end of line) may create a line break in some processors, but this is not part of basic markdown syntax.

Escaping in Different Positions

Start: *text

Middle: text*text

End: text*

Escaping Special Character Sequences

***

```

---

Real-World Examples

Escaping in Documentation

When writing documentation about markdown, you often need to escape characters to show the syntax.

To create bold text, use **two asterisks**.

To create italic text, use *one asterisk*.

To create inline code, use `backticks`.

Escaping in Examples

Here's how to escape a backtick: `

Here's how to escape an asterisk: *

Here's how to escape an underscore: _