HTML Basics
HTML Introduction
HTML is the standard markup language for creating web pages, and it is the very first thing every web developer learns. This page explains what HTML is and shows you a complete working page.
What is HTML?
HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. It is not a programming language; it is a markup language that describes the structure and meaning of content on a web page. Browsers read HTML and use it to decide what to show: headings, paragraphs, links, images, lists, and more.
HTML uses tags written in angle brackets, like <p> and </p>. Most tags come in pairs: an opening tag and a closing tag with a forward slash. The content sits between them.
A Complete HTML Page
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>My First Page</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Hello, World!</h1>
<p>This is my first HTML page.</p>
</body>
</html>Save this in a file called index.html and open it in any browser. You will see a large heading and a paragraph. Every real website is built from this same basic skeleton.
What each part does
- <!DOCTYPE html> tells the browser this is an HTML5 document.
- <html> is the root element that wraps the whole page.
- <head> holds information about the page (title, character set, links to CSS).
- <body> holds everything the visitor actually sees.
You do not need any special software to start. A plain text editor and a web browser are enough to write and view your first HTML page.