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Introduction to HTML

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the standard markup language used to create web pages. It is a cornerstone technology of the World Wide Web and is used in conjunction with other technologies like CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and JavaScript to create dynamic and interactive web pages.

HTML was created by Tim Berners-Lee, a British computer scientist, while working at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) in the late 1980s. Berners-Lee created HTML as a way to share scientific information among researchers at CERN, and it quickly became the standard language for creating web pages on the World Wide Web.

Note: In HTML, all tags should be written in lower case.

Here are some of the major points of HTML:

  • Markup language : HTML is a markup language, which means that it uses a series of tags to define the structure and content of a web page.
  • Tags : HTML tags are used to define various elements of a web page, such as headings, paragraphs, lists, links, images, forms, and more. Tags are enclosed in angle brackets (< >) and usually come in pairs, with an opening tag and a closing tag.
  • Attributes : HTML tags can also have attributes that provide additional information about the element. Attributes are specified in the opening tag and consist of a name and a value, separated by an equals sign. For example, the tag has an attribute called "src" that specifies the URL of the image to be displayed.
  • Document structure : HTML documents have a specific structure, with a root <html> element, a <head> element for metadata, and a <body> element for the visible content of the web page.
  • Accessibility : HTML provides a range of semantic tags that can be used to define the meaning and structure of content. This is important for accessibility, as it allows screen readers and other assistive technologies to understand the content of the web page.
  • Compatibility : HTML is a platform-independent technology and can be viewed on any device with a web browser. However, different web browsers may interpret HTML differently, so it is important to test web pages in multiple browsers to ensure compatibility.
  • Versioning : HTML has gone through several versions since its creation, with each new version introducing new features and improvements. The current version of HTML is HTML5, which introduced many new features and improvements to the language.
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Overall, HTML is a critical technology for creating web pages and provides a standard way of defining the structure and content of web content that is accessible and compatible across a wide range of devices and web browsers.

HTML Versions

HTML has gone through several versions since its creation, with each new version introducing new features and improvements. The major versions of HTML are:

  • HTML 2.0: This was the first standard version of HTML, released in 1995. It introduced the <form> tag and support for tables.
  • HTML 3.2: This version was released in 1997 and added support for style sheets and improved support for tables
  • HTML 4.01: This version was released in 1999 and included support for frames, improved form handling, and support for internationalisation.
  • XHTML 1.0: This version was released in 2000 and was a reformulation of HTML 4.01 in XML syntax. It introduced stricter rules for writing HTML, and required that all tags be closed.
  • HTML5: This is the current version of HTML and was released in 2014. It introduced many new features and improvements, including new semantic tags like <header>, <footer>, and <nav>, improved multimedia support with the <video> and <audio> tags, and support for new form controls like date pickers and sliders.

HTML5 also introduced the concept of "Web Components", which allow developers to create their own custom elements with encapsulated functionality that can be reused across multiple web pages.

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