Introduction to HTML

What is HTML?

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the standard markup language used to create web pages. It describes the structure of a page using elements — headings, paragraphs, links, images, and more. Every website you've ever visited is built on HTML underneath.

HTML is not a programming language — it has no logic or calculations. It's a markup language: it labels content so the browser knows how to display it.

Editors

You don't need any special software to write HTML — a plain text editor is enough. Popular free choices:

VS Code — the most widely used code editor today, free and cross-platform
Sublime Text — lightweight and fast
Notepad / TextEdit — built into Windows/Mac, works but has no helpful features

Avoid Microsoft Word or Google Docs for writing HTML — they add hidden formatting that breaks your code.

A Basic Example

Here's the smallest complete HTML page:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>My First Page</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Hello, World!</h1>
    <p>This is my first paragraph.</p>
  </body>
</html>

What each part does:

<!DOCTYPE html> — tells the browser this is a modern HTML5 page
<html> — the root element, wraps everything
<head> — metadata (not shown on the page itself)
<body> — everything the visitor actually sees

Save this as index.html and open it in any browser — no server needed to view plain HTML.

Elements & Attributes →