HTML

HTML is a hypertext markup language. It’s used to display a specially formatted document in a browser, containing multiple nested elements: headings, paragraphs, lists, hyperlinks, media sources, and the arrangement of images, video, and audio.

What is HTML?

HTML literally stands for Hypertext Markup Language. As its name suggests, this tool is used to manage and structure the display of content on a web page. 

HTML files typically have the extension ” .html ” or ” .htm “. This is the standard extension for web pages written in markup language.

Hypertext markup technology for web pages was proposed in 1989 by British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee. Initially, the language was used to exchange scientific documentation between engineers at CERN, where Berners-Lee worked. Shortly thereafter, the use of HTML expanded so much that, along with such basic elements as HTTP and URLs, it formed the basis of the World Wide Web and web programming.

Why do we need HTML?

When a user visits a website, the browser downloads an HTML file containing information about the structure and content of the web page. HTML’s function is to build the external base, the foundation, but it doesn’t actually launch the website. HTML only specifies where elements should be located, their basic visual appearance, and where to find styles for elements and scripts.

HTML capabilities

You can create an HTML document using any editor available on your operating system: Notepad on MS Windows, TextEdit on Mac, or Pico on Linux. A browser is recommended but not required for working with HTML documents. It is needed to display the formatted document.

You can view HTML pages without an internet connection. To do this, create several HTML files in one folder, place hyperlinks in them, and navigate from one document to another.

What can and cannot be done in HTML

HTML is the foundation of a website’s internal structure, its basic framework. It’s important to remember that this code isn’t a programming language like Python or C#, but a tool for marking up hypertext. With it, the browser constructs a web page in a human-readable format, styling it with CSS and adding logic via JavaScript. HTML is ideal for beginning programmers; it’s easy to learn, and the skills you acquire will help you learn programming languages. 

In the HTML file, you can specify:

• hyperlinks;
• lists;
• forms;
• page layout;
• tables;
• paragraphs;
• pictures;
• video;
• headings.

It’s also possible to create a basic design using only HTML. For example, you can set the color and font of text on a page or the background of blocks. Using HTML alone to design web pages is not recommended, as the design will look primitive and outdated. With CSS, however, the creative process is unlimited. However, several features are now being adopted by HTML from other, more sophisticated tools. For example, drag and drop (moving elements with the mouse) was previously exclusive to JavaScript; now it can be done in HTML as well.

What are HTML tags?

An HTML document is a text file with the .html or .htm extension. In the browser, it is converted into a web page and consists of a set of tags. These tags help present the text on the screen: they let the browser know that it is reading not just text, but structured information broken down into blocks.

A tag looks like a set of characters enclosed in angle brackets. The characters in the brackets represent the tag’s name, which describes its functionality. Here are some examples:

• <h1> </h1> — heading;
• <p> </p> — paragraph;
• <i> </i> — italic.

A tag is a component element that defines the layout of structural blocks. It opens, thereby initiating its action, and closes, marking the end of a command. Open and closed tags differ only by the slash preceding the tag name. These tags create a shell within which text is placed.

Unclosed tags lead to frequent errors and incorrect page display. To illustrate, let’s imagine the tags as nesting dolls, which can be assembled into a set. When placing all the figures into a large nesting doll, remember to close all the halves (apply closing tags); otherwise, the set won’t work.

A tag can contain attributes—additional information that should be hidden from the main text. They are included only in the opening tag; there should be a space between the opening tag and the tag name, followed by an equals sign. The attribute value is enclosed in quotation marks. These attributes can be used to extend the capabilities of tags and access them for more detailed information.

Some tags don’t require closing. For example, the line break tag <br> is a single tag and doesn’t need to be closed. Previously, single tags were written with a closing slash before the closing bracket. For example: <br />. In the HTML5 standard, the use of a closing slash in single tags is optional. Examples of single tags: <br>, <hr>, <img>.

In addition to attributes, you can add attachments to a tag; these elements can change the text style. For example, you can make a word <strong> bold </strong>.

What does the HTML code look like?

And this is what it looks like in the browser:

<!DOCTYPE html> – used to indicate the document type, as browsers can interpret different versions of HTML (for example, Extensible HyperText Markup Language). By default, it is always included at the top of the page.

<html> </html> – tells the browser what kind of HTML document this is. This tag contains all other tags.

<head> </head> is used to store other elements that help the browser process data. It contains meta tags used to store information for browsers and search engines.

<body> </body> – the body of the document, which contains all elements visible to the user.

<title> </title> – the title of the web page. This is what the browser will load as the title, and when saving the page to favorites, it will use this phrase as the bookmark description.

<img> places an image in the desired location. Typically, it includes the src attribute, which contains the path to the image. The width and height attributes define the image’s width and height in pixels.

The basic markup of an HTML page consists of headings, paragraphs, and lists. They structure the information on the page, just like in a Word document.

Commonly used HTML tags

Headlines

There are six levels of headings in HTML: <h1> – <h6> :

A heading like <h1> is usually used only once because it is the main one.

Paragraph

As in regular writing, it divides the text by meaning.

<p> Thanks, 365education, I understand. Let’s move on .</p>

Lists

The most common types of lists are numbered and unnumbered.

Unordered or bulleted lists are added using the <ul></ul> tag pair. These lists are used when the order of their elements is not important.

In a numbered list, where the items are arranged in a specific order, the <ol></ol> tag is used.

Individual elements in any type of list are introduced with the <li></li> tag, which also needs to be closed after each item.

Advantages and Disadvantages of HTML

Advantages :

• widespread distribution;
• The code can be written in any text editor.
• compatibility with the vast majority of browsers;
• very easy syntax, you can learn the basics in a couple of days;
• support of the standard by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C);
• Easy integration with core programming languages ​​such as PHP.

Disadvantages:

• Not suitable for creating dynamic pages. JavaScript or PHP may be required for this.
• Some browsers are slow to adopt support for new features.
• Sometimes it can be difficult to predict how older browsers (Internet Explorer version 8 and earlier) will react to new tags.
• If you want your website to look beautiful, you also need to master CSS and JS.

Is HTML a programming language?

HTML doesn’t process data; it only displays it. This means it can’t perform addition or multiplication; it can only display text containing the required formula and answer. It’s responsible for markup—a limited set of actions that helps the browser display pages.

However, HTML has syntax, semantics, and vocabulary, so it falls into the category of declarative web programming languages.