HTML an acronym for Hypertext Markup Language was developed by Tim Burners-Lee in the year 1990. Every web page you see on the internet is written using one of the versions of HTML. It helps the text to do more than just be present on a page. It helps you display text, images, tables, links, lists, and much more. The learning curve is minimal. It is pretty easy to learn as compared to other computer languages. However, it is not a programming language and it does not have the ability to create dynamic functionality.

There are a lot many things that make this language popular. So, let’s now dig a little deeper to have a clear idea about this comprehensive language that covers a lot of useful information.

What is HTML?

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is used to create web pages and web applications. “Hypertext” means “link within the text.” The moment you click on the hypertext, you will see a new web page displaying on the World Wide Web (WWW). Whereas, markup language is a computer language that uses tags to define elements in the document. It is a human-readable language that helps you design a beautiful web page hassle-free.

It has evolved a lot to meet the requirements and demands of the users. All the web browsers like Firefox, Safari, Chrome very well understand this universally accepted standard markup language.

What are the Uses of HTML?

HTML is responsible for the entire and exact formatting of text and images. And it lets a browser display all the content in the defined format. Thus, you will get the intended appearance. No matter what type of website you’re viewing, be it a modern website with slideshows, videos, forms, or just a simple text, It will be accountable for organizing everything.

It is liable to decide which part of the web page is the footer, which is a header, where you can place images, where to show paragraphs, where to embed videos – handles just everything. Nonetheless, it is the most fundamental building block in the website development life cycle. Check out free html templates.

How Does it Work?

It includes a sequence of short-codes typed into a text file known as tags. And you can save the file as a .html file which you can view via a web browser. The browser then reads the file and renders the text into human-readable form.

Likewise, it has an opening and closing tags for the proper execution of the document. The tags separate the normal text from the HTML code. Different tags serve different purposes. The common tags that an HTML page includes are HEAD, BODY, TITLE, P (for paragraph), and Heading tags. They can be easily understandable with the help of the following example.

<html>
<head>
<title>This is an HTML Web Page</title>
</head>
<body>
<h2>Page Heading</h2>
<p>Web Page Paragraph</p>
</body>
</html>

Firstly, the <HTML> tag in the above code indicates the document to be “type HTML” to a web browser. Secondly, the <HEAD> tag contains a <TITLE> tag which is used to display the title at the top of a web browser. And the third tag <BODY> tag carries the viewable information in the document and incorporates a header tag <H2> and paragraph tag <P>. Against every opening tag, there should be an equivalent closing tag i.e. <p></p>.

A Brief History of HTML Versions

HTML has evolved a lot ever since its inception. Basically, it is the backbone of a web page. And with every new version, it is raising the standards, making it cleaner with more advanced features than ever before. So you can create more robust websites. Let’s take a look at the history of HTML.

1. HTML 1.0 Released in 1991

The first version of HTML had very limited features to offer. It had a vision of sharing readable information which can be accessed through web browsers. There wasn’t much that you could do with the language and there were not many web developers. Thereupon, it wasn’t growing.

2. HTML 2.0 Released in 1995

In 1994, a new version of HTML came in i.e. HTML2 with some additional features along with the previous features. It became the first official set of standards for designing websites until January 1997. It came up as a benchmark for web creation.

3. HTML 3.0 Released in 1997

The group in association with Dave Raggett introduced the HTML 3.0 draft with various new features. It gained enough popularity on the web. But it wasn’t good enough and had some limitations in the design so it was abandoned soon.

4. HTML 3.2 Released in 1997

That’s when HTML 3.2 came into existence to deal with the problem of browser-specific tags. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) comes up with the WILBUR standard. And that was later known as HTML 3.2. In the month of January 1997, HTML 3.2 official standard for web design.

5. HTML 4.0 Released in 1998

HTML 4.0 was the last replication of classic HTML but it was a huge step in the progression of language Initially, it was known as COUGAR. In December 1997, W3C recommended HTML 4.0 and in April 1998 it became the official standard. Later 4.01 came as a better version simplifying many issues. This new version had several new features to specifications.

6. XHTML Released in 2000

At the beginning of the 21st century, HTML and XML join their strengths to become XHTML (Extensible Hypertext Markup Language). However, the obvious next version should be 5 but instead, there was XHTML. It was an advancement of HTML mainly focused on semantic code that adheres to web standards. In January 2000 it came as a joint standard with HTML 4.01.

7. HTML 5 Released in 2014

HTML 5 follows the previous and XHTML to bring something innovative in the field. It happened when a bunch of tech enthusiasts thought of building something of their own, outside the W3C methodologies. They called themselves WHATWG which means Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group. And in October 2014, it comes up as a W3C recommendation.

Pros and Cons of HTML

There is no such language as PHP or CSS or any other software that doesn’t have pros and cons. And this Hypertext Markup Language is no different. There are many advantages as well as disadvantages that you should know before using this language. So, here they are.

Pros

  • It is amazingly simple to understand and learn.
  • It is open-source and free for use.
  • Runs natively on every browser.
  • Embedding audio, video, and images are pretty simple.
  • You do not need to buy any extra software because it is by default in every browser.
  • You are free to link any page internal or external.

Cons

  • Plenty of code can be difficult to manage.
  • It is not really secure on its own.
  • Creating dynamic pages can be challenging.
  • It can create static pages only.

In Conclusion

So this was all about HTML and its uses and anyone who wants to start his own website or web application must know the basics. However, there are various website builders in the market which you can use to create a website, without any coding knowledge. And TemplateToaster is one of the best offline website builder software you will ever find. You can construct your own masterpiece with TemplateToaster. It has a low learning curve and you can easily learn and implement it in your project. You will find a lot of great new tags. Also, if you wish to start quickly, you can use the free templates from the TemplateToaster repository. Also, now you have basic knowledge of Html now, if you need any help then feel free to drop your query in the comments below. I will do my best to provide you every solution.