HTML is a computer language which forms the structure of all the content of the web. It stands for HyperText Markup Language. Content is wrapped in tags to tell your web browser what form the content is supposed to take. A heading for example, is marked by wrapping it in <h1> tags. A paragraph is marked as a paragraph by wrapping it in <p> tags. The code to make this happen takes the following form:

<h1>A heading</h1>
<p>This is a paragraph. Paragraphs are useful for breaking up content into digestible chunks. This reduces reader fatigue.</p>

The content wrapped in tags is called an element. The web pages of the internet are made of as many elements as it takes to show the page content.

The single most important feature of HTML is its hypertext technology, which allows users to navigate from one web page to another through links. Linking pages to one another is what puts the inter in the internet. Without HTML, there would be no web. Every other web technology revolves around serving up the correct HTML to your screen, or dynamically interacting with the HTML.

You can look at the HTML for any web page you are viewing by viewing the page source. In most desktop browsers, you can simply right click and select view page source in the menu that appears.  Or try pressing CTRL + U.

Like most active computer languages, HTML is continually improved with new versions which provide additional features and bug fixing. Currently the latest version is HTML5.

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Find out more about HTML with these resources:

• W3 Schools HTML Tutorials
• Wikipedia HTML article
• Code Academy HTML course
• HTML.com