What is HTML

Introduction to HTML

  • HTML: Stands for Hyper Text Markup Language.

  • It is the standard markup language for creating web pages.

  • HTML describes the structure of a web page through a series of elements.

  • Elements label pieces of content, telling the browser how to display it (e.g., headings, paragraphs, links).

Example of a Simple HTML Document

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Page Title</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>My First Heading</h1>
<p>My first paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>

Explanation of the Example

  • <!DOCTYPE html>: Declaration that defines the document as HTML5.

  • <html>: Root element of the HTML page.

  • <head>: Contains meta information about the page.

  • <title>: Specifies the title shown in the browser's title bar or tab.

  • <body>: Contains all visible content such as headings, paragraphs, images, etc.

Understanding HTML Elements

  • <h1>: Defines a large heading.

  • <p>: Defines a paragraph.

Definition of an HTML Element

  • An HTML element is defined by a start tag, content, and an end tag:

<tagname> Content goes here... </tagname>

  • Example:

    • Start tag: <h1>

    • Element content: My First Heading

    • End tag: </h1>

The Role of Web Browsers

  • Web browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari) read HTML documents and display them correctly.

  • Browsers do not display HTML tags; they use them to render the document visually.

HTML Page Structure

Visualization of an HTML Structure

<html>
<head>
<title>Page title</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>This is a heading</h1>
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
<p>This is another paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>

Important Notes

  • Content inside the <body> section is displayed in the browser.

  • Content inside the <title> element appears in the browser's title bar or in the page's tab.

History of HTML

  • 1989: Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web.

  • 1991: Tim Berners-Lee invented HTML.

  • 1993: HTML+ drafted by Dave Raggett.

  • 1995: HTML 2.0 defined by the HTML Working Group.

  • 1997: W3C Recommendation: HTML 3.2.

  • 1999: W3C Recommendation: HTML 4.01.

  • 2000: XHTML 1.0 recommended by W3C.

  • 2008: WHATWG HTML5 First Public Draft.

  • 2012: WHATWG HTML5 Living Standard.

  • 2014: W3C Recommendation: HTML5.

  • 2016: W3C Candidate Recommendation: HTML 5.1.

  • 2017: W3C Recommendation: HTML5.1 2nd Edition.

  • 2017: W3C Recommendation: HTML5.2.