What is HTML?
- HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language.
- HTML is used to create and structure web pages on the World Wide Web.
- HTML is a markup language (not a programming language).
- HTML uses elements (tags) to describe content like text, images, links, and forms.
Why Learn HTML?
- HTML is required for all websites and web apps.
- It works together with CSS (design) and JavaScript (interactivity).
- HTML is beginner-friendly and quick to learn.
- Semantic HTML helps accessibility and SEO.
Key Definitions
- Tag: The markup inside angle brackets, like
<p>or</p>. - Element: The full structure, usually opening tag + content + closing tag, like
<p>Hello</p>. - Attribute: Extra information inside the opening tag, like
href="..."in a link. - Void elements: Some elements don’t have closing tags (example:
<img>,<br>).
HTML comments look like: <!-- Example Comment -->. Comments are not visible on the web page.
Basic HTML Page
Basic HTML Pagehtml
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8" />
<title>This is a Title</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>This is a Heading</h1>
<p>This is a Paragraph</p>
</body>
</html>Example Explanation
| Tag /Element | Explanation |
|---|---|
<!DOCTYPE html> | Declares the document type as HTML5. |
<html lang="en"> | The root element. lang helps accessibility tools and search engines understand the page language. |
<head> | Contains metadata like title, charset, viewport, and SEO tags. |
<meta charset="UTF-8"> | Sets character encoding so text displays correctly. |
<title> | Title shown in the browser tab and used by search engines. |
<body> | Contains visible page content (text, images, links, etc.). |
<h1> | Main heading (usually the page title). Best practice: one clear h1 per page. |
<p> | Paragraph text element used for normal reading content. |
What’s Next?
- Next, you’ll learn elements and tags (how HTML building blocks work).
- Then you’ll learn attributes (how to add more info like links and image sources).
- After that: headings, paragraphs, links, images, lists, tables, and forms.