As you know HTML is the language of the world wide web. This article goes into a bit of background of HTML, but
is not a tutorial. For the links to various HTML tutorials scroll down.
HTML Tutorial Links | HTML Books
HTML - The Language Of The Virtual World
by Kip Goldhammer
HTML is the programming language that has been instrumental in bringing about this revolution called the
'Internet'. 'HTML' fascinates a lot of people. There are people who want to learn HTML in order to try their hands
at developing a website on their own.
For the website designers and developers, HTML is their bread and butter. They use HTML to bring websites to
life. This community of programmers and developers is also in constant search of new HTML techniques that will
enhance their skills further.
The use of HTML can be judged by the fact that thousands of websites are launched everyday on the internet (and
all websites use HTML in some way.)
Another gauge of the popularity of HTML is the fact that there are several books on HTML available in the market
and there are several websites that discuss and teach HTML.
For example, www.html-code-pulse.be is a website that brings together all the resources and information on HTML.
In fact, this website really justifies its name "HTML code pulse".
In computing, HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is a markup language designed for the creation of web pages with
hypertext and other information to be displayed in a web browser. HTML is used to structure information -- denoting
certain text as headings, paragraphs, lists and so on -- and can be used to describe, to some degree, the
appearance and semantics of a document. HTML's grammar structure is the HTML DTD that was created using SGML
syntax.
[Markup refers to inserting codes into text to define bold, italics, links,
and so on. DTD refers to Document Type Definition. This is the standard structure for HTML. The
formal definition is here. SGML is an earlier system for marking up pages and more information
on SGML is here.-UT]
Originally defined by Tim Berners-Lee and further developed by the IETF, HTML is now an international standard
(ISO/IEC 15445:2000). Later HTML specifications are maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
Early versions of HTML were defined with looser syntactic rules which helped its adoption by those unfamiliar
with web publishing. Web browsers commonly made assumptions about intent and proceeded with rendering of the page.
Over time, the trend in the official standards has been to create an increasingly strict language syntax; however,
browsers still continue to render pages that are far from valid HTML.
[All browsers are supposed to run the standard HTML definitions, but a number of extensions have been
developed that only run in Internet Explorer and a few that only run in FireFox. A page that differs from the
standard HTML might appear slighly or greatly different when viewed with different browsers.
-UT]
XHTML, which applies the stricter rules of XML to HTML to make it easier to process and maintain, is the W3C's
successor to HTML. As such, many consider XHTML to be the "current version" of HTML, but it is a separate, parallel
standard; the W3C continues to recommend the use of either XHTML 1.1, XHTML 1.0, or HTML 4.01 for web
publishing.
[Keep in mind that the recommended standard does not include the huge number of extensions that have
been developed. While browsers will keep up with the standards they also have to keep up with Microsoft.
-UT]
HTML Tutorials and Articles:
- HTML Codes and Basics
Some HTML basics and codes. Not an extensive tutorial, but this will get you started.
- HTML Codes 2 - HTML Tutorial
HTML is a relatively simple language, in some places it is almost completely readable and understandable but that doesn't stop people from having problems with it. Why is that?
- Using HTML in Website Design
There are tremendous advantages to knowing HTML and you do not have to pay someone else to apply it.
- Learning HTML, Should You Bother?
Most WYSIWYG programs don't give you absolute, total control over webpage design (ie, exactly the way you want the page to look). There are design limitations.
- The Many Flavors of HTML
Every website out there is written in some kind of HTML. Because of the rapid evolution of the web...
- Optimize Your HTML Code
Optimizing your HTML documents is a must for professional webmasters, and it has many potential benefits. With a little effort and know-how, you can clean up your HTML files and reap the benefits today.
- MySpace HTML Help
The need to change the look of their generic MySpace pages is a strong drive in many people.
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