HTML and CSS Reference
In-Depth Information
1
What is HTML?
HTML is an acronym for HyperText Markup Language — but that collection of geeky words
sure doesn't tell you much. In this lesson, I explain exactly what HTML is, what it does, and,
more importantly, why it is important to you. I also show you how you peek under the hood
of any web page so you can see what's really going on and learn from the masters of the web
designer's craft.
THe LanGuaGe oF THe web
The Internet, or World Wide Web, is essentially a network of computers. Browsers, like Internet
Explorer, Firefox, or Safari, are computer programs that display web pages, which, in turn, are
written in HTML. So, at its heart, HTML is the language of the Web.
As noted, HTML is an abbreviation for HyperText Markup Language. Let's break down that
HTML acronym to dive a bit deeper.
HyperText
is text presented on one electronic device
HyperText
—
whether it's a computer, smart phone, or something else — that is connected, via a link, to other
text, which could be located elsewhere in the same document, on a different page in the same
website, or on an entirely different site. HyperText is perhaps the defining essence of the Internet:
the ability to link from one web page to another, thus creating a web of information.
HyperText
is text presented on one electronic device
A simple hypertext system that connects raw textual content pretty much describes the earliest
Internet systems. So how did we get to the rich multimedia experience that makes up much of
the web today? That's where the second half of the HTML abbreviation,
Markup Language
,
comes into play. The Markup Language part of HTML takes plain text with additional codes
or tags and turns raw text into easily readable text on other electronic devices.
