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HTML

What it is

HTML, or HyperText Markup Language, is a markup language that describes the contents of a website. Unlike CSS and Javascript, which respecitvely define the appearance and behavior of a site, HTML’s job is to define its semantic structure. If CSS is the skin and javascript is the brain, HTML is the bones.

It is composed of a series of nested tags that define the elements of the page, such as headers, paragraphs, buttons, lists, etc.

<!DOCTYPE html>
  <html>
  <body>
    <h1>Basic HTML Page</h1>
    <p>This is a paragraph.</p>
  </body>
</html>

A basic HTML document

Why it matters

Every webpage uses HTML. If you want to work on anything related to the web, you need to grasp HTML.

How to learn it

Take a look at the HTML lesson in the Developer Atlas Making Websites curriculum.