Understanding HTML: A Comprehensive Guide and Tutorial | D1Codes

What Is HTML? Hypertext Markup Language Basics Explained

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is a standard markup language used for creating and structuring the content on web pages. It is the backbone of every website and provides a set of tags or elements that define the structure and presentation of the web page's content.

HTML uses a markup syntax consisting of tags enclosed in angle brackets ("< >") to define the elements and their attributes. These elements describe different types of content such as headings, paragraphs, images, links, tables, forms, and more. HTML also allows the inclusion of multimedia elements like audio and video.

The primary purpose of HTML is to define the semantic structure of web pages, enabling web browsers to interpret and display the content correctly. It acts as a communication medium between web browsers and web servers, delivering the content to users in a readable and organized manner.

HTML is complemented by Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and JavaScript, which provide additional capabilities for styling and interactivity, respectively. Together, these technologies form the foundation of modern web development, allowing developers to create visually appealing and interactive websites.

How Does HTML Work

The average website includes several different HTML pages. For instance, a home page, an about page, and a contact page would all have separate HTML files.

HTML documents are files that end with a .html or .htm extension. A web browser reads the HTML file and renders its content so that internet users can view it.

All HTML pages have a series of HTML elements, consisting of a set of tags and attributes. HTML elements are the building blocks of a web page. A tag tells the web browser where an element begins and ends, whereas an attribute describes the characteristics of an element. 

The three main parts of an element are: 

• Opening tag – used to state where an element starts to take effect. The tag is wrapped with opening and closing angle brackets. For example, use the start tag <p> to create a paragraph. 
• Content – this is the output that other users see. 
• Closing tag – the same as the opening tag, but with a forward slash before the element name. For example, </p> to end a paragraph. 

The combination of these three parts will create an HTML element:

<p>This is how you add a paragraph in HTML.</p>