HTML Introduction

What is HTML?

HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. It is not a programming language; it is a markup language that tells your web browser how to structure and display web pages.

Example: What is HTML?

<html>
  <body>
    HTML structures and displays this text.
  </body>
</html>

The Core HTML Structure

Every valid web page needs a standard skeleton. This includes declarations and tags that tell the browser what document type it is reading.

Example: The Core HTML Structure

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Cookies Cursor</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <p>Welcome to our utility tools!</p>
  </body>
</html>

How Browsers Read HTML

Web browsers do not display the HTML tags themselves. Instead, they read the tags like instructions to render the visual content inside them.

Example: How Browsers Read HTML

<p>This text is displayed, but the &lt;p&gt; tags themselves are not.</p>

A Brief History of HTML Versions

HTML was created in 1991 and went through several numbered versions, with HTML 4.01 becoming a long-standing standard in the late 1990s.

HTML5, released in 2014, introduced native support for video, audio, and semantic elements like article and section, and is the version every modern browser uses today.

Example: A Brief History of HTML Versions

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <title>cookiescursor.com</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <article>
      <h2>Free Tools</h2>
      <p>cookiescursor.com offers 100 free developer tools.</p>
    </article>
  </body>
</html>