## The `marked` function

```js
marked(markdownString [,options] [,callback])
```

|Argument              |Type         |Notes                                                                                                |
|:---------------------|:------------|:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|markdownString        |`string`     |String of markdown source to be compiled.                                                            |
|<a href="#options">options</a>|`object`|Hash of options. Can also use `marked.setOptions`.                                                |
|callback              |`function`   |Called when `markdownString` has been parsed. Can be used as second argument if no `options` present.|

### Alternative using reference

```js
// Create reference instance
var myMarked = require('marked');

// Set options
// `highlight` example uses `highlight.js`
myMarked.setOptions({
  renderer: new myMarked.Renderer(),
  highlight: function(code) {
    return require('highlight.js').highlightAuto(code).value;
  },
  pedantic: false,
  gfm: true,
  tables: true,
  breaks: false,
  sanitize: false,
  smartLists: true,
  smartypants: false,
  xhtml: false
});

// Compile
console.log(myMarked('I am using __markdown__.'));
```

<h2 id="options">Options</h2>

|Member      |Type      |Default  |Since    |Notes         |
|:-----------|:---------|:--------|:--------|:-------------|
|baseUrl     |`string`  |`null`   |???      |A prefix url for any relative link. |  
|breaks      |`boolean` |`false`  |???      |If true, use GFM [hard](https://github.github.com/gfm/#hard-line-breaks) and [soft](https://github.github.com/gfm/#soft-line-breaks) line breaks. Requires `gfm` be `true`.|
|gfm         |`boolean` |`true`   |???      |If true, use approved [GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) specification](https://github.github.com/gfm/).|
|headerIds   |`boolean` |`true`   |v0.4.0   |If true, include an `id` attribute when emitting headings (h1, h2, h3, etc).|
|headerPrefix|`string`  |`''`     |???      |A string to prefix the `id` attribute when emitting headings (h1, h2, h3, etc).|
|highlight   |`function`|`null`   |???      |A function to highlight code blocks, see <a href="#highlight">Asynchronous highlighting</a>.|
|langPrefix  |`string`  |`'language-'`|???      |A string to prefix the className in a `<code>` block. Useful for syntax highlighting.|
|mangle      |`boolean` |`true`   |???      |???     |
|pedantic    |`boolean` |`false`  |???      |If true, conform to the original `markdown.pl` as much as possible. Don't fix original markdown bugs or behavior. Turns off and overrides `gfm`.|
|renderer    |`object`  |`new Renderer()`|???|An object containing functions to render tokens to HTML. See [extensibility](USING_PRO.md) for more details.|
|sanitize    |`boolean` |`false`  |???      |If true, sanitize the HTML passed into `markdownString` with the `sanitizer` function.|
|sanitizer   |`function`|`null`   |???      |A function to sanitize the HTML passed into `markdownString`.|
|silent      |`boolean` |`false`  |???      |???  |
|smartLists  |`boolean` |`false`  |???      |If true, use smarter list behavior than those found in `markdown.pl`.|
|smartypants |`boolean` |`false`  |???      |If true, use "smart" typographic punctuation for things like quotes and dashes.|
|tables      |`boolean` |`true`   |???      |If true and `gfm` is true, use [GFM Tables extension](https://github.github.com/gfm/#tables-extension-).|
|xhtml       |`boolean` |`false`  |???      |If true, emit self-closing HTML tags for void elements (&lt;br/&gt;, &lt;img/&gt;, etc.) with a "/" as required by XHTML.|

<h2 id="highlight">Asynchronous highlighting</h2>

Unlike `highlight.js` the `pygmentize.js` library uses asynchronous highlighting. This example demonstrates that marked is agnostic when it comes to the highlighter you use.

```js
myMarked.setOptions({
  highlight: function(code, lang, callback) {
    require('pygmentize-bundled') ({ lang: lang, format: 'html' }, code, function (err, result) {
      callback(err, result.toString());
    });
  }
});

console.log(myMarked(markdownString));
```

In both examples, `code` is a `string` representing the section of code to pass to the highlighter. In this example, `lang` is a `string` informing the highlighter what programming lnaguage to use for the `code` and `callback` is the `function` the asynchronous highlighter will call once complete.