"squared circle" = []()

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squaring_the_circle

i can't remember who i heard it from first, but "squaring the circle" is the phrase that (finally!) helped me remember the order after years of having to look it up every single time i needed it.

i still have to look up the format for images every time.

I remember “brackets come before parentheses” alphabetically ;)

These are both helpful mnemonic tricks. I always forget links' syntax.

More generally in this post I find Markdown has a pretty short learning curve, is highly readable and logical (EG. I like the number of `#` for level of headings). My biggest issue with Markdown is the different interpretations and how they're represented. Eg. Github vs. someplace else vs. Markdown-viewer apps. Org in comparison looks more concise, but less readable, IMO.

I always sort of read it to myself. I use parens within normal writing as an aside (for example, this one), so I put the part that you read within the brackets and the reference in the parens.

In plaintext you'd have a claim (and parens directing you to see the citation at citation.com).

In hypertext you'd have a [claim](and a link to citation.com).