Tables

Tables are the most limited part of Markdown’s native syntax: they support column alignment, row separators, and some differences in how line breaks inside a cell behave, but they do not support merged cells and they do not support arbitrary nesting.

This chapter first gives the exact way to write a basic table, then covers the alignment syntax — colons that control left, center, and right alignment. It also explains why the vertical bars inside a table sometimes have to be escaped, and why a long table is often more readable when you switch to a list or split it into smaller sections.

Tables suit short, neatly structured data. Mastering them is about knowing when to use one and when to reach for something else.