Learning HTML programming is often the first step toward a web development career. HTML is a markup language that forms the structure of a web page. It is important to learn HTML programming to design the basics of a web page. HTML 5 is the latest version of Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML).
HTML consists of a series of elements to let the browser how to display the contents. In this blog, let us know more about HTML programming with some examples.
What is HTML?
HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. It is the standard language used to create and structure the backbone of web content. It defines the structure of a webpage by using various “tags” and “elements” to describe different parts of the page, such as text, images, links, headings, and more. HTML is the backbone of all webpages, and it works alongside other technologies like Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for styling and JavaScript for interactivity.
HTML forms the foundation of web development, enabling browsers to interpret and display content. It is essential for building websites, ensuring accessibility, and structuring the content that users interact with online.
Imagine HTML as a blueprint for a house. When building a house, you need a solid structure before you can start painting the walls, hanging up decorations, or installing furniture. HTML is like that structure that gives a webpage its skeleton, defining the walls, doors, rooms, and windows.
HTML is the skeleton that holds the internet together. It is the quiet, invisible architect behind the scenes, ensuring that everything is in its right place when you enter a webpage. Without it, the web would just be an empty lot, waiting for a house to be built!
Basic Structure of an HTML Document
The basic structure of an HTML document provides a framework for building a webpage.
| <!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang=”en”> <head> <meta charset =”UTF-8”> <meta name=”viewport” content=”width=device-width, intial-scale=1.0”> <title>Document</title> </head> <body> <!—khsdvbcjh–> </body> </html> |
This is the skeleton of every basic HTML webpage. You can add more elements inside the head and body tags to style, structure, and interact with the page’s content.
The <!DOCTYPE html> determines the type of the document and version of the HTML being used.
The root element’s <html> opening tags wrap the entire HTML content between the opening and closing <html> tags.
The head element contains meta information about the HTML document and the page title that can be seen on the browser tab. Also, it contains a link that defines a link between an HTML document and external resources.
The body element encloses all the visible content of a web page, including texts, images, forms, and other elements that users interact with.
HTML Elements and Tags
HTML tags and elements are the fundamental concepts that work together to structure and present content on a webpage. Tags are individual components that define elements, and elements are the full units that structure and present content on a webpage.
HTML Tags
Tags are the building blocks of an HTML document. They are used to mark the beginning and end of an HTML element. Tags are enclosed in angle brackets (<>). There are two basic types of tags in HTML documents, which are empty and container tags.
Opening tags mark the start of the element, such as “<p>”. This opening paragraph tag initializes the paragraph element. Whereas, closing tags mark the end of an element. It includes a forward slash such as “</p>”.” closing paragraph tag marks the end of the paragraph element.
Empty and Container Tags
An empty tag is a tag that does not need to be closed once it’s opened. It is also known as self-closing tags. They do not contain any content in them, they are usually used for elements that don’t need to enclose text or child elements, such as inserting images, line breaks, or metadata.
<img> is an empty tag. It only contains attributes (src and alt), but there is no closing. <br>, <hr>, <input>, and <meta> are some of the common empty tags.
Container tags are tags that come in pairs, an opening tag, and a closing tag. They enclose content, such as text, other HTML elements, or attributes. A container tag defines the start and end of an element.
<p> is the opening tag and </p> is the closing tag. <div>, <ul>, and <a> are some of the common container tags used in HTML documents.
Elements
Elements are the complete building blocks of HTML documents. They include everything from the opening tag to the closing tag, including any content in between.
An element consists of several components, including the opening tag, the content, and the closing tag. The opening tag marks the start of the element, the content is the text or other elements that are closed within the tag, and the closing tag marks the end of the element.
A simple element is an element with just opening and closing tags and no content in between. Whereas, a complex element is an element that contains other elements or content.
| <a href=”https://example.com”> Visit homepage </a> |
HTML Attributes
HTML Attributes provide additional information about an element and are included in the opening tag of the element. They consist of a name and a value, separated by an equal sign (=). Attributes are optional but often used to define features such as IDs, classes, styles, or links.
In the above example of elements, href is an attribute specifying the URL of the link. Every element has its own attributes to present the content well on output.
Comments in HTML
Html comments are the texts that are only visible to the developers and not the users. These are used to add extra information in codes for developers’ ease. It is used to leave notes for the coder himself or others who might work on the code later.
To create a comment in HTML, we simply need to use the syntax mentioned below:
<!–This is where the comment goes–>
The browser ignores everything in between those two hyphens, making it invisible to the users visiting the website.
For Example:
| <!DOCTYPE html>
<html> <head> <title> Hello </title> </head> <body> <!– Main Content starts from here –> <h1> Welcome to the Example </h1> <p>This is a simple example of HTML comments.</p> <!– Adding the list below → <ul> <li>Item 1 </li> <li>Item 2 </li> <li> Item 3</li> <li>Item 4 </li> </ul> </body> </html> |
In this example, the comments are used to provide information about different sections of the HTML document.
Best Practices for HTML documents
Some of the best practices for the HTML document must be followed by a programmer to avoid any errors and inconsistencies. The best practices are mentioned below:
- Use <!DOCTYPE html> that ensures browser compatibility and standards compliance.
- Structure with <html>, <head>, and <body> tags for proper document structure.
- Specify character encoding using <meta charset=” UTF-8”> to define the document’s character set.
- Provide a meaningful context in the title for better page clarity.
- Comment on the code with proper information that will help in the clarity of the HTML document.
- Avoid overusing the break tag (<br>).
- Use alternate texts for the image tags.
Using Semantic HTML elements
Semantic HTML elements are HTML tags that clearly describe their meaning and the role of their content both to the browser and to the developers. They improve the structure, accessibility, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and overall maintainability of web pages.
Utilize semantic elements including tags like <header>, <nav>, <main>, <footer>, and <section> for clearer structure and better SEO.
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HTML Programming FAQs
Q1. What is HTML and how does it work?
Ans. HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is a standard language to create and structure content on the web. It works by structuring content using tags or elements that the web browser interprets to render the page.
Q2. What is an HTML document?
Ans. An HTML document is a plain text file that contains HTML code. The document is typically saved with a .html or .html extension and can be opened and viewed in any web browser.
Q3. Why is HTML important?
Ans. HTML is the foundational building block of web pages, instructing web browsers how to display and structure content like text, images, links, and multimedia elements.
