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HyperText Mark-Up Language (HTML)

What is HTML?

Info

A full guide to HTML can be found here. This is just a brief overview of the language that Tim Berners-Lee created.

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the code used to make web pages.

HTML is a simple mark-up language, which means that special instructions are added to plain text to add meaning to the text, or to add special features (e.g. links or images).

Why was HTML Invented?

In the late 1980s, information was stored on different computers and saved in lots of different formats - some people used text files, others used Word files, others used strange formats like Latex. Because of this, it was difficult to share information

The Solution: HTML

Tim Berners-Lee created HTML to fix these problems and to have one standard way to create documents. HTML would:

  • Be pretty easy to learn
  • Work on any device - laptops, tablets, phones
  • Contain hyperlinks to make hypertext, allowing information to be connected
  • Be easy to view using an HTML browser
  • Be completely free for anyone to use - no company could control it

An Example Web Page

This is the HTML code for a simple web page, and a preview of how the page would be rendered by a browser:

<h1>Cats</h1>

<img src="cat.jpg">

<p>The cat (<em>felis catus</em>) is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal of the family Felidae. You can find out more about cats at <a href="https://cats.com">this website</a> which has lots of great information.</p>

<h2>What Do Cats Like?</h2>

<ul>
    <li>Sleeping</li>
    <li>Ignoring people</li>
    <li>Chasing things</li>
    <li>Sleeping some more</li>
</ul>