Pre And Code Tags In Github Markdown

Not sure if there is some hidden resource somewhere on their site or blog, but I couldn’t find how to get syntax highlighting with <pre> and <code> tags. Here is what I found out.

Pre and Code Tags In Github

Not sure when/where I found that you could use <pre> and <code> tags, but I liked the idea. The only problem was syntax highlighting, but recently I decided to inspect their markup to see how they convert they fenced option into HTML. In doing so, I found out what attributes you need.

<pre lang="javascript"><code>
if(foo==true)
  alert('yes sir');
else
  alert('boo scenario');
</code></pre>

This method is my favored one thus far. Not buggy and you know what to expect. Here is an example of a huge block of C# code that ONLY worked with these <pre> and <code> tags, all documented methods bugged out.

Documented Markdown For Code

There are 2 documented ways to do code blocks in Github’s markdown.

1.) 4 Space Indent

In my case, this is awkward. Especially when pasting in a block of code.

    if(foo==true)
      alert('yes sir');
    else
      alert('boo scenario');

2.) Fenced code block with `

This is the format I’ve used the most, seems easier than the 4 space indent. You need to start with 3 ```language and end the fence with another 3 ```. This method has proven to be buggy.

```javascript
if(foo==true)
  alert('yes sir');
else
  alert('boo scenario');
```