About HTML

The single most important and defining characteristic of a Web page is the link.

A link is an embedded reference to another information resource, most often another Web document. For example, these words are linked to another Web page. If you follow the link, you'll see that page. (Go ahead, do it.)

Text containing these embedded references is sometimes called hypertext. What's so great about hypertext? It just makes finding and retrieving information (which might be stored on a remote computer, in a distant corner of the world) easier and simpler than ever.

An HTML document is a text-only file that has been 'marked up' with special formatting instructions. These instructions might define certain blocks of text as paragraphs, for example. HTML can also format lists, tables, and a number of other useful textual structures.

This document has been marked up with such instructions. You don't see the instructions themselves, but you see their results: a page that is organized into paragraphs and sections, with embedded links to other documents.

HTML is a pretty forgiving language, as computer languages go. But it is a language, and as such it has certain rules that should be followed, if you care to make yourself clear.

Like any language, HTML has a basic syntax. It is fairly simple. The best way to learn is by example.