diff --git a/BUILDING.md b/BUILDING.md
index 308ef8a9e5c3..1086bdd47013 100644
--- a/BUILDING.md
+++ b/BUILDING.md
@@ -10,12 +10,13 @@ Set the JAVA\_HOME environment variable.  For example:
 |  OSX     | ``export JAVA_HOME=`/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.8``    |
 |  Windows | ``set JAVA_HOME="C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_121"`` |
 
-Download the project source from the Releases page at [Apache Geode]
-(http://geode.apache.org/releases/), and unpack the source code.
+Download the project source from the Releases page at
+[Apache Geode](http://geode.apache.org/releases/), and unpack the source code.
 
 Within the directory containing the unpacked source code, run the gradle build:
-
-    $ ./gradlew build
+```console
+$ ./gradlew build
+```
 
 Once the build completes, the project files will be installed at
 `geode-assembly/build/install/apache-geode`. The distribution archives will be
@@ -23,8 +24,9 @@ created in `geode-assembly/build/distributions/`.
 
 Verify the installation by invoking the `gfsh` shell command to print version
 information:
-
-    $ ./geode-assembly/build/install/apache-geode/bin/gfsh version
-    v1.1.0
+```console
+$ ./geode-assembly/build/install/apache-geode/bin/gfsh version
+v1.1.0
+```
 
 Note: on Windows invoke the `gfsh.bat` script to print the version string.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b9d94bdc7d25..54b9686ffd0d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ can load dependencies from [Maven
 Central](https://search.maven.org/#search%7Cga%7C1%7Cg%3A%22org.apache.geode%22).
 
 Maven
-```
+```xml
 <dependencies>
     <dependency>
         <groupId>org.apache.geode</groupId>
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ Maven
 ```
 
 Gradle
-```
+```groovy
 dependencies {
   compile "org.apache.geode:geode-core:$VERSION"
 }
@@ -117,69 +117,76 @@ instructions on how to build the project.
 
 Geode requires installation of JDK version 1.8.  After installing Apache Geode,
 start a locator and server:
-
-    $ gfsh
-    gfsh> start locator
-    gfsh> start server
+```console
+$ gfsh
+gfsh> start locator
+gfsh> start server
+```
 
 Create a region:
-
-    gfsh> create region --name=hello --type=REPLICATE
+```console
+gfsh> create region --name=hello --type=REPLICATE
+```
 
 Write a client application (this example uses a [Gradle](https://gradle.org)
 build script):
 
 _build.gradle_
+```groovy
+apply plugin: 'java'
+apply plugin: 'application'
 
-    apply plugin: 'java'
-    apply plugin: 'application'
-
-    mainClassName = 'HelloWorld'
+mainClassName = 'HelloWorld'
 
-    repositories { mavenCentral() }
-    dependencies {
-      compile 'org.apache.geode:geode-core:1.4.0'
-      runtime 'org.slf4j:slf4j-log4j12:1.7.24'
-    }
+repositories { mavenCentral() }
+dependencies {
+  compile 'org.apache.geode:geode-core:1.4.0'
+  runtime 'org.slf4j:slf4j-log4j12:1.7.24'
+}
+```
 
 _src/main/java/HelloWorld.java_
-
-    import java.util.Map;
-    import org.apache.geode.cache.Region;
-    import org.apache.geode.cache.client.*;
-
-    public class HelloWorld {
-      public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
-        ClientCache cache = new ClientCacheFactory()
-          .addPoolLocator("localhost", 10334)
-          .create();
-        Region<String, String> region = cache
-          .<String, String>createClientRegionFactory(ClientRegionShortcut.CACHING_PROXY)
-          .create("hello");
-
-        region.put("1", "Hello");
-        region.put("2", "World");
-
-        for (Map.Entry<String, String>  entry : region.entrySet()) {
-          System.out.format("key = %s, value = %s\n", entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());
-        }
-        cache.close();
-      }
+```java
+import java.util.Map;
+import org.apache.geode.cache.Region;
+import org.apache.geode.cache.client.*;
+
+public class HelloWorld {
+  public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
+    ClientCache cache = new ClientCacheFactory()
+      .addPoolLocator("localhost", 10334)
+      .create();
+    Region<String, String> region = cache
+      .<String, String>createClientRegionFactory(ClientRegionShortcut.CACHING_PROXY)
+      .create("hello");
+
+    region.put("1", "Hello");
+    region.put("2", "World");
+
+    for (Map.Entry<String, String>  entry : region.entrySet()) {
+      System.out.format("key = %s, value = %s\n", entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());
     }
+    cache.close();
+  }
+}
+```
 
 Build and run the `HelloWorld` example:
-
-    $ gradle run
+```console
+$ gradle run
+```
 
 The application will connect to the running cluster, create a local cache, put
 some data in the cache, and print the cached data to the console:
-
-    key = 1, value = Hello
-    key = 2, value = World
+```console
+key = 1, value = Hello
+key = 2, value = World
+```
 
 Finally, shutdown the Geode server and locator:
-
-    $ gfsh> shutdown --include-locators=true
+```console
+gfsh> shutdown --include-locators=true
+```
 
 For more information see the [Geode
 Examples](https://github.com/apache/geode-examples) repository or the