How pandoc converts markdown code blocks to LaTeX code. Described here is the behaviour with the default LaTeX template default.latex (pandoc -D latex).

Variant 1 (default): code blocks as verbatim or special environment

Example command: pandoc input.txt -t latex

Input markdown:

```
Code block
```

Output LaTeX:

\begin{verbatim}
Code block
\end{verbatim}

Input markdown:

```bash
Code block
```

Output LaTeX:

\begin{Shaded}
\begin{Highlighting}[]
Code block (annotated with \KeywordTok{}, \NormalTok{}, etc.)
\end{Highlighting}
\end{Shaded}

Note: Styles of \KeywordTok{}, \NormalTok{}, etc. and if there is a box drawn around the code block is defined by the value of pandoc option --highlight-style.

Styles with box: espresso, zenburn, tango

Styles without box: pygments, kate, monochrome, haddock

Variant 2: code blocks with the listings package

Example command: pandoc input.txt -t latex --listings

Input markdown:

```
Code block
```

Output LaTeX:

\begin{lstlisting}
Code block
\end{lstlisting}

Input markdown:

```bash
Code block
```

Output LaTeX:

\begin{lstlisting}[language=bash]
Code block
\end{lstlisting}

Note:

Appearance of code block depends on setting in \lstset{} that can be added to the LaTeX template.