HYPER TEXT MARKUP LANGUAGE (HTML)

 INTRODUCTION

Hyper Text markup language is the most important aspect in web site development. We write web pages that contain codes written in this particular language. As name implies this is a language like other high level language, though much easier than those . we shall discuss broadly about different features of HTML in this post in order to get acquainted with writing simple web pages.

HTML EDITORS

HTML documents are plain-text (also known as ASCII) files that can be created using any text editor (e.g., Emacs or VI on UNIX machines; simple Text on a Macintosh; Notepad on a Windows machine). You can also use word-processing software if you remember to save your document as "text only with line breaks".

Some WYSIWYG editors are also available (e.g., claris home page or adobe pagemill, both for windows and Macintosh). You may wish to try one of them after you learn some of the basics of HTML tagging. WYSIWYG is an acronym for " What you see is what you get "; it means that you design your HTML document visually, as if you were using a word processor, instead of writing the markup tags in a plain-text file and imagining what the resulting page Will look like. It is useful to know enough HTML to code a document before you determine the usefulness of a WYSIWYG editor, in case you want to add HTML features that your editor doesn't support.

ELEMENTS OF HTML

An HTML element is a fundamental component of the structure of a text document. Some examples of elements are heads, tables, paragraphs, and lists. Elements can contain plain text, other elements, or both.

TAGS

A web page consists of various types of tags. To denote the various elements in an HTML document, we use tags. HTML tags consist of a left angle bracket (<), a tag name, and a right angle bracket (>). Tags are usually paired (e.g.,<Tag> and </Tag>) to start and end the tag instruction. The end tag looks just like the start tag except a slash (/) precedes the text within the brackets.

ATTRIBUTES

Some elements may include an attribute, which is additional information that is included inside the start tag. For example, you can specify the alignment of text (right, left or center) by including the appropriate attribute with the image source HTML code.

Please Note:

• HTML is not case sensitive . <title> is equivalent to <TITLE> or <TiTlE>.

• Not all tags are supported by all world wide web browsers. If a browser does not support a tag, it will simply ignore it. Any text placed between a pair of unknown tags will still be displayed, however.

WRITING A HTML DOCUMENT

To write a web document, follow the instructions as follows:

• Load a text editor like Notepad. To open Notepad click Start → Programs → Accessories → Notepad

• Write codes and save it with a HTML file. HTML files are the files having extensions . htm or .html. 

• View it in a browser of your choice e.g., Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator.

DOCUMENT LAYOUT

Every HTML document should contain certain standard HTML tags. They are as follows-

• HTML tag
• Head tag
• Title tag
• Body tag

More Information in new post.