Almost anybody who has surfed the internet has at least heard the term HTML used. But what is it? And how do we use it?

HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language.

• Hypertext essentially means that we can access other pages as links appear. We don't necessarily access in a linear fashion as we do with most books.
• Markup means that we we start with the text that is on our page and mark it up with tags to create the structure we want. Remember that different browsers support different tags.
• Language means that we think of it as a programming language.

• HTML describes the structure of a page not the appearance on the screen.
• HTML defines a set of common styles such as headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, etc.
• Pages may look different on different browsers. So it's a good idea to design your pages so that they are accessible from most browsers. Don't fall into the trap of designing your page based on what it looks like on YOUR browser!