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In this article, we’ll take a close look at what HTML is, and explore how it works. Moreover, we’ll walk you through its function and how you can use it.
HTML means HyperText Markup Language, created by Tim Berners-Lee. Tim is also famous for being the inventor of the World Wide Web. To visually imagine, hypertext is text with links that you can click on to go to another web page, or some specific part of the current page. And markup languages are coding languages that use tags or plain text with markings to define the portion of a page. Those can be headers, footers, other elements and even tables and images.
For HTML, you’ll need a text editor to write and make sure your code is functional. They will reduce the errors and debug as you’re inserting tags and other elements. You can either use a text editor like Notepad, Brackets or Atom to do the work.
Currently, HTML is still the default coding language for website and documents. Only through HTML can a browser understand the content of a webpage, and allow your site to have all kind of materials. Thus, HTML also provide navigation of a site through hypertext.
Therefore, once knowing how to use HTML means you’ve already had half the knowledge of how to run a website (or at least order a professional to do it for you). One of the most common usage of HTML is for:
Until now, an HTML document consisted of tags and other elements to allow your browser to know what to display. Tags will look like <this>, and the letters in between the brackets are known as elements. So that’s our start, but there will be so much more to know. A basic structure of an HTML page will need:
If you see <!DOCTYPE html> appears at the start of a document, it’s the components that tells what HTML version was applied to produce the page.
The <html> written right below the DTD is the container for the entire page, which holds all other elements. You should add it to define the language of the document.
<head> is enlisted below <html> and <body>, contains data to well describe the page, including:
And last but not least, you must have the <body>. This takes up the most of your document, and must be filled with information to display on screen. The <body> will contain:
We’ve already known what HTML is, what it takes to create an HTML document. Now let’s get to the more technical part, how it works.
To keep it simple, just imagine this. You’ve written your HTML document already, and now after saving it with an extension .html or .htm, you bring it to a browser. Since you’ve already included all the tags and elements, Google Chrome, Firefox or Safari and other browsers will be able to read this format. Now it’s ready to be seen online and visually.
The main advantage of HTML?
Yes, you’ll still wonder how knowing HTML affects your work as a developer, designer or even a business owner. Here are some solid reasons why you should look into it!
It's the beginning of web development: Luckily it’s easy to learn, and even if you have zero idea of coding, HTML is still the first best option to begin with. As developers and web designers, just this reason is strong enough to get you started.
Versatile: No matter you’re creating a website or mobile app, HTML is the core for you. Of course HTML is not everything, but it’s the spine for you to get most of your projects done.
HTML is still your foundation!
Even for low-code or drag-and-drop web developers, learning HTML is still crucial and extremely relevant. By learning HTML, you’ll get a closer look on how websites are built and how elements work together to form great results.