HTML is an abbreviation that stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. HTML is a programming language or markup language used, among other things, for formatting websites. HTML is responsible for the content and structure of a web page. For example, you can use HTML to add elements such as titles, section headings, scripts, and text to a page. For further design, the programming language CSS is typically used. With CSS, you can determine, among other things, which font and font size are used, where elements appear on the page, and how large images are displayed.
How does HTML work, what are the most important codes, and what are some useful tools? You can read all about that in the next paragraph. After that, we’ll discuss ways you can learn HTML.
How HTML works
To instruct a browser to read HTML code, you need to have an HTML file ready. Such a file consists of various elements. Each element has specific tags, i.e., codes enclosed between the symbols < and >. The tags you add specify which part of the page (e.g., the title, a paragraph heading, or a block of text) is being addressed. Between the tags, you then add the text that is actually to be displayed. In the HTML file, this might look like the following:
<P>This is sample text</P>
The <P> and the </P> tags above indicate that this is a paragraph of text. The closing tag always begins with a ‘/’.
The best way to create an HTML file is to use a program specifically designed for that purpose. After all, such a program offers the best features for writing code quickly and easily. Examples of good programs you can use for free are Atom and Brackets. With both of these programs, you can download various additional plugins. Another excellent program, though one you have to pay for, is Sublime Text.
Open HTML source code
If you want to find out how an HTML file ultimately functions as source code for a website, you can do so very easily. In most browsers, you can view the source code of almost any website and then analyze it to gain a better understanding of how HTML works. To do this, right-click on the page in question. It doesn’t matter where you click. Now select “View Page Source.” The source code will open immediately.
How hard is it to learn HTML?
Would you like to master working with HTML yourself? Then you can turn to websites developed specifically for this purpose, such as Treehouse and Codecademy, and W3 Schools also offers plenty of explanations. You can also find many videos on YouTube that explain step by step how HTML works. Of course, there are also books and (short) courses available.
This accessibility of learning and wide availability of teaching materials suggest that HTML is relatively easy to learn. Especially if you already have some experience working with code or tags and/or if you already have a strong understanding of how websites are structured, it should be possible to learn HTML fairly well in just a few (full) work weeks.
