HTML is the standard markup language for creating Web pages.

HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language
HTML is the standard markup language for creating Web pages
HTML describes the structure of a Web page
HTML consists of a series of elements
HTML elements tell the browser how to display the content
HTML elements label pieces of content such as “this is a heading”, “this is a paragraph”, “this is a link”, etc.

A Simple HTML Syntax:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Page Title</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>My First Heading</h1>
<p>My first paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>

Result:

My First Heading

My first paragraph.

Example Explained

The <!DOCTYPE html> declaration defines that this document is an HTML5 document
The <html> element is the root element of an HTML page
The <head> element contains meta information about the HTML page
The <title> element specifies a title for the HTML page (which is shown in the browser’s title bar or in the page’s tab)
The <body> element defines the document’s body, and is a container for all the visible contents, such as headings, paragraphs, images, hyperlinks, tables, lists, etc.
The <h1> element defines a large heading
The <p> element defines a paragraph

What is an HTML Element?

An HTML element is defined by a start tag, some content, and an end tag:<tagname> Content goes here… </tagname>

The HTML element is everything from the start tag to the end tag:<h1>My First Heading</h1><p>My first paragraph.</p>

Start tag	Element content	End tag
<h1>	My First Heading	</h1>
<p>	My first paragraph.	</p>
<br>	none	none

Web Browsers

The purpose of a web browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari) is to read HTML documents and display them correctly.

A browser does not display the HTML tags, but uses them to determine how to display the document:

HTML Page Structure

Below is a visualization of an HTML page structure:
<html>
<head>
<title>Page title</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>This is a heading</h1>
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
<p>This is another paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>

HTML Editors

A simple text editor is all you need to learn HTML.

Learn HTML Using Notepad or TextEdit

Web pages can be created and modified by using professional HTML editors.

However, for learning HTML we recommend a simple text editor like Notepad (PC) or TextEdit (Mac).

We believe in that using a simple text editor is a good way to learn HTML.

Follow the steps below to create your first web page with Notepad or TextEdit.

Step 1: Open Notepad (PC)

Windows 8 or later:

Open the Start Screen (the window symbol at the bottom left on your screen). Type Notepad.

Windows 7 or earlier:

Open Start > Programs > Accessories > Notepad

Step 1: Open TextEdit (Mac)

Open Finder > Applications > TextEdit

Also change some preferences to get the application to save files correctly. In Preferences > Format > choose “Plain Text”

Then under “Open and Save”, check the box that says “Display HTML files as HTML code instead of formatted text”.

Then open a new document to place the code.

Step 2: Write Some HTML

Write or copy the following HTML code into Notepad:<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<h1>My First Heading</h1>
<p>My first paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>

Step 3: Save the HTML Page

Save the file on your computer. Select File > Save as in the Notepad menu.

Name the file “index.htm” and set the encoding to UTF-8 (which is the preferred encoding for HTML files).

Step 4: View the HTML Page in Your Browser

Open the saved HTML file in your favorite browser (double click on the file, or right-click – and choose “Open with”).

The result will look much like this:

With our free online editor, you can edit the HTML code and view the result in your browser.

It is the perfect tool when you want to test code fast. It also has color coding and the ability to save and share code with others:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Page Title</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>This is a Heading</h1>
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>