Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML)

Hypertext markup language, or HTML, is the programming language used to create Web pages that can be displayed on the World Wide Web. The Web sites that we see on the Internet are not stored on servers in the same format as they are shown to us. They are stored as text files containing programming language that browsers can interpret.

A browser knows how to interpret the commands called "tags" in the text files in order to display the format, layout and look of what you see on the screen. The "tagging language" used to create these text files is HTML. HTML commands may be used to display not only text, but also multimedia items like graphics, sound and video.

It is fairly easy to learn the basic features of HTML and how to use it to create a simple page. Web authoring tools such as FrontPage  and DreamWeaver , however, make this even simpler. They limit how much you have to deal directly with HTML or learn its details.

Users can see the associated HTML code of any Web page. To do so, look for an option called "View Page Source" in your browser. In Internet Explorer 6 and 7, you can right-click anywhere on the page and then select the "View Source" option. In Internet Explorer 7, you can also click the Page tab on the Menu bar and then select the "View Source" option. Once selected, the source code will display in a separate window.

The following Web sites give the basics of writing HTML:

• W3Schools 
• HTML Code Tutorial 

Because the World Wide Web and its many associated applications and products are constantly evolving, it is important to have standards for common and widely used tools. W3C  is the consortium in charge of designing and maintaining HTML's specifications.