HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is a web programming language designed to create

web documents or web pages. Based upon SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language),
HTML's basic concept involves the use of "tags". These "tags", "mark up" or alert the
browser that the document contains hypertext so it can be interpreted and rendered as a web
page document. All HTML documents consist of a mix and match of HTML "tags" and
"regular" text. Tags only aid in describing the document content or text, and thus leave the
actual appearance and layout decisions for a web browser to handle when the web page is
rendered or opened.

HTML documents are plain-text files that can be created using any basic or high-level text
editor, such as Notepad, TextPad, or Microsoft Word or any other HTML authoring program.
When you create an HTML document, you must save it with a .html or .htm extension. By
default, most text editors save documents with a .txt extension, which is not capable of being
displayed by a web browser. The .html or .htm extension allows the document to be rendered
and displayed by a browser.

Unfortunately for web designers, web documents are browser dependent; sometimes,
different browsers display content differently. A document may look crisp and clean in
Internet Explorer, but it may have a slightly different look in Netscape, or vice versa. Web
page designers should make every attempt to create portable HTML documents that can be
opened by many different web browsers while showing little or no visual differences.
Reliable HTML web pages are created by following all syntax rules and understanding which
tags are supported by all web browsers.

So, what does a person need to create a web page? A simple text editor, and a web browser.
It's that simple. In most cases, a web page, or web site which is a collection of related web
pages, should be designed locally on a computer first, and then once completed, the web
documents and files may be uploaded for publishing on the World Wide Web. This makes
web site or web page creation, extremely easier than trying to edit existing documents on the
WWW. Before reading further and learning actual HTML code, you should become familiar
with the following short listing of terms:

 HTML - short for HyperText Markup Language; basic programming language of the World
Wide Web based upon SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language).
 Web browser - application capable of interpreting and rendering HTML code and other web
programming languages.
 URL - [Uniform Resource Locator] - the address to any web site or web page document that
is part of the World Wide Web.
 Hyperlink, link - text, image or object in a web page document that "links" or "points" to
another document on the World Wide Web.
 Element - a fundamental component of structure in a web document; web pages are
ultimately divided into many individual elements.
 Tag - used to denote various elements in a document; it signals a command or instruction for
a web browser and specifically describes the type of content.
 Attribute - additional information included inside the start tag of an element; issues a
command to a web browser telling what kind of operation is required.
 Web document - actual web page text file with an extension of .html or .htm that is capable of
being displayed by a browser.