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What Is HTML?: Language

HTML is a markup language used to define the structure and layout of web pages. HTML uses tags to mark elements like headings, paragraphs, links, images, and more. Tags are surrounded by angle brackets and usually come in pairs of opening and closing tags. HTML documents are made up of nested elements and read by browsers to display web pages. Attributes provide additional information about elements.

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60 views

What Is HTML?: Language

HTML is a markup language used to define the structure and layout of web pages. HTML uses tags to mark elements like headings, paragraphs, links, images, and more. Tags are surrounded by angle brackets and usually come in pairs of opening and closing tags. HTML documents are made up of nested elements and read by browsers to display web pages. Attributes provide additional information about elements.

Uploaded by

ankitha91
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What is HTML?

HTML is a language for describing web pages.

 HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language


 HTML is not a programming language, it is a markup
language
 A markup language is a set of markup tags
 HTML uses markup tags to describe web pages

HTML Tags
HTML markup tags are usually called HTML tags

 HTML tags are keywords surrounded by angle brackets like


<html>
 HTML tags normally come in pairs like <b> and </b>
 The first tag in a pair is the start tag, the second tag is
the end tag
 Start and end tags are also called opening tags and closing
tags

HTML Documents = Web Pages


 HTML documents describe web pages
 HTML documents contain HTML tags and plain text
 HTML documents are also called web pages

The purpose of a web browser (like Internet Explorer or Firefox) is


to read HTML documents and display them as web pages. The
browser does not display the HTML tags, but uses the tags to
interpret the content of the page:

<html>
<body>

<h1>My First Heading</h1>


<p>My first paragraph.</p>

</body>
</html>

Example Explained
 The text between <html> and </html> describes the web
page
 The text between <body> and </body> is the visible page
content
 The text between <h1> and </h1> is displayed as a heading
 The text between <p> and </p> is displayed as a paragraph

What You Need


You don't need any tools to learn HTML at W3Schools.

 You don't need an HTML editor


 You don't need a web server
 You don't need a web site

Editing HTML
In this tutorial we use a plain text editor (like Notepad) to edit
HTML. We believe this is the best way to learn HTML.

However, professional web developers often prefer HTML editors like


FrontPage or Dreamweaver, instead of writing plain text.

Create Your Own Test Web


If you just want to learn HTML, skip the rest of this chapter.

If you want to create a test page on your own computer, just copy
the 3 files below to your desktop.

(Right click on each link, and select "save target as" or "save link
as")
mainpage.htm

page1.htm

page2.htm

After you have copied the files, you can double-click on the file
called "mainpage.htm" and see your first web site in action.

Use Your Test Web For Learning


We suggest you experiment with everything you learn at W3Schools
by editing your web files with a text editor (like Notepad).

Note: If your test web contains HTML markup tags you have not
learned, don't panic. You will learn all about it in the next chapters.

.HTM or .HTML File Extension?


When you save an HTML file, you can use either the .htm or the
.html file extension. We use .htm in our examples. It is a habit from
the past, when the software only allowed three letters in file
extensions.

With new software it is perfectly safe to use .html.

HTML Headings
HTML headings are defined with the <h1> to <h6> tags.

Example

<h1>This is a heading</h1>
<h2>This is a heading</h2>
<h3>This is a heading</h3>

Try it yourself »
HTML Paragraphs
HTML paragraphs are defined with the <p> tag.

Example

<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
<p>This is another paragraph.</p>

Try it yourself »

HTML Links
HTML links are defined with the <a> tag.

Example

<a href="http://www.w3schools.com">This is a
link</a>

Try it yourself »

Note: The link address is specified in the href attribute.

(You will learn about attributes in a later chapter of this tutorial).

HTML Images
HTML images are defined with the <img> tag.

Example

<img src="w3schools.jpg" width="104"


height="142" />
Try it yourself »

Note: The name and the size of the image are provided as


attributes.

HTML Elements
An HTML element is everything from the start tag to the end tag:

Start tag * Element content End tag *


<p> This is a paragraph </p>
<a This is a link </a>
href="default.htm"
>
<br />    

* The start tag is often called the opening tag. The end tag is often
called the closing tag.

HTML Element Syntax


 An HTML element starts with a start tag / opening tag
 An HTML element ends with an end tag / closing tag
 The element content is everything between the start and the
end tag
 Some HTML elements have empty content
 Empty elements are closed in the start tag
 Most HTML elements can have attributes

Tip: You will learn about attributes in the next chapter of this


tutorial.

Nested HTML Elements


Most HTML elements can be nested (can contain other HTML
elements).
HTML documents consist of nested HTML elements.

HTML Document Example


<html>

<body>
<p>This is my first paragraph.</p>
</body>

</html>

The example above contains 3 HTML elements.

HTML Example Explained


The <p> element:

<p>This is my first paragraph.</p>

The <p> element defines a paragraph in the HTML document.


The element has a start tag <p> and an end tag </p>.
The element content is: This is my first paragraph.

The <body> element:

<body>
<p>This is my first paragraph.</p>
</body>

The <body> element defines the body of the HTML document.


The element has a start tag <body> and an end tag </body>.
The element content is another HTML element (a p element).

The <html> element:

<html>
<body>
<p>This is my first paragraph.</p>
</body>

</html>

The <html> element defines the whole HTML document.


The element has a start tag <html> and an end tag </html>.
The element content is another HTML element (the body element).

Don't Forget the End Tag


Most browsers will display HTML correctly even if you forget the end
tag:

<p>This is a paragraph
<p>This is a paragraph

The example above will work in most browsers, but don't rely on it.
Forgetting the end tag can produce unexpected results or errors.

Note: Future version of HTML will not allow you to skip end tags.

Empty HTML Elements


HTML elements with no content are called empty elements. Empty
elements can be closed in the start tag.

<br> is an empty element without a closing tag (the <br> tag


defines a line break).

In XHTML, XML, and future versions of HTML, all elements must be


closed.

Adding a slash to the start tag, like <br />, is the proper way of
closing empty elements, accepted by HTML, XHTML and XML.

Even if <br> works in all browsers, writing <br /> instead is more
future proof.
HTML Tip: Use Lowercase Tags
HTML tags are not case sensitive: <P> means the same as <p>.
Many web sites use uppercase HTML tags.

W3Schools use lowercase tags because the World Wide Web


Consortium (W3C) recommendslowercase in HTML 4,
and demands lowercase tags in future versions of (X)HTML.

Attributes provide additional information about HTML


elements.

HTML Attributes
 HTML elements can have attributes
 Attributes provide additional information about an element
 Attributes are always specified in the start tag
 Attributes come in name/value pairs like: name="value"

Attribute Example
HTML links are defined with the <a> tag. The link address is
specified in the href attribute:

Example

<a href="http://www.w3schools.com">This is a
link</a>

Try it yourself »

Always Quote Attribute Values


Attribute values should always be enclosed in quotes.
Double style quotes are the most common, but single style quotes
are also allowed.

 Tip: In some rare situations, when the attribute value itself


contains quotes, it is necessary to use single quotes: name='John
"ShotGun" Nelson'

HTML Tip: Use Lowercase Attributes


Attribute names and attribute values are case-insensitive.

However, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommends


lowercase attributes/attribute values in their HTML 4
recommendation.

Newer versions of (X)HTML will demand lowercase attributes.

HTML Attributes Reference


A complete list of legal attributes for each HTML element is listed in
our:

Complete HTML Reference

Below is a list of some attributes that are standard for most HTML
elements:

Attribute Value Description


class classname Specifies a classname for an element
id id Specifies a unique id for an element
style style_definitio Specifies an inline style for an element
n
title tooltip_text  Specifies extra information about an
element (displayed as a tool tip)

For more information about standard attributes:

HTML Standard Attributes Reference


Headings are important in HTML documents.

HTML Headings
Headings are defined with the <h1> to <h6> tags.

<h1> defines the largest heading. <h6> defines the smallest


heading.

Example

<h1>This is a heading</h1>
<h2>This is a heading</h2>
<h3>This is a heading</h3>

Try it yourself »

Note: Browsers automatically add an empty line before and after a


heading.

Headings Are Important


Use HTML headings for headings only. Don't use headings to make
text BIG or bold.

Search engines use your headings to index the structure and


content of your web pages.

Since users may skim your pages by its headings, it is important to


use headings to show the document structure.

H1 headings should be used as main headings, followed by H2


headings, then the less important H3 headings, and so on.

HTML Lines
The <hr /> tag creates a horizontal line in an HTML page.

The hr element can be used to separate content:

Example

<p>This is a paragraph</p>
<hr />
<p>This is a paragraph</p>
<hr />
<p>This is a paragraph</p>

Try it yourself »

HTML Comments
Comments can be inserted into the HTML code to make it more
readable and understandable. Comments are ignored by the
browser and are not displayed.

Comments are written like this:

Example

<!-- This is a comment -->

Try it yourself »

Note: There is an exclamation point after the opening bracket, but


not before the closing bracket.

HTML Tip - How to View HTML Source


Have you ever seen a Web page and wondered "Hey! How did they
do that?"
To find out, right-click in the page and select "View Source" (IE) or
"View Page Source" (Firefox), or similar for other browsers. This will
open a window containing the HTML code of the page.

Examples From This Page

Headings
How to display headings in an HTML document.

Hidden comments
How to insert comments in the HTML source code.

Horizontal lines
How to insert a horizontal line.

HTML Tag Reference


W3Schools' tag reference contains additional information about
these tags and their attributes.

You will learn more about HTML tags and attributes in the next
chapters of this tutorial.

Tag Description
<html> Defines an HTML document
<body> Defines the document's body
<h1> to <h6> Defines HTML headings
<hr /> Defines a horizontal line
<!--> Defines a comment

HTML documents are divided into paragraphs.

HTML Paragraphs
Paragraphs are defined with the <p> tag.
Example

<p>This is a paragraph</p>
<p>This is another paragraph</p>

Try it yourself »

Note: Browsers automatically add an empty line before and after a


paragraph.

Don't Forget the End Tag


Most browsers will display HTML correctly even if you forget the end
tag:

Example

<p>This is a paragraph
<p>This is another paragraph

Try it yourself »

The example above will work in most browsers, but don't rely on it.
Forgetting the end tag can produce unexpected results or errors.

Note: Future version of HTML will not allow you to skip end tags.

HTML Line Breaks


Use the <br /> tag if you want a line break (a new line) without
starting a new paragraph:

Example

<p>This is<br />a para<br />graph with line


breaks</p>

Try it yourself »

The <br /> element is an empty HTML element. It has no end tag.

<br> or <br />


In XHTML, XML, and future versions of HTML, HTML elements with
no end tag (closing tag) are not allowed.

Even if <br> works in all browsers, writing <br /> instead is


more future proof.

HTML Output - Useful Tips


You cannot be sure how HTML will be displayed. Large or small
screens, and resized windows will create different results.

With HTML, you cannot change the output by adding extra spaces or
extra lines in your HTML code.

The browser will remove extra spaces and extra lines when the page
is displayed. Any number of lines count as one line, and any number
of spaces count as one space.

Try it yourself

(The example demonstrates some HTML formatting problems)

Examples From This Page

HTML paragraphs
How HTML paragraphs are displayed in a browser.
Line breaks
The use of line breaks in an HTML document.

Poem problems
Some problems with HTML formatting.

More Examples
More paragraphs
The default behaviors of paragraphs.

HTML Tag Reference


W3Schools' tag reference contains additional information about
HTML elements and their attributes.

Tag Description
<p> Defines a paragraph
<br /> Inserts a single line break

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