HTML structure
When learning how to build websites, the first language you'll encounter is HTML, short for HyperText Markup Language. It's not a programming language in the traditional sense—rather, it’s a markup language that defines the structure and layout of a web page. Think of HTML as the backbone of any website. It organizes content using "tags" which tell the browser how to display each part of the page. A basic HTML document starts with a <!DOCTYPE html> declaration, which tells the browser that the page should follow HTML5 standards. Right after that comes the <html> element, which wraps everything you’ll write. Within this tag, the page is split into two main parts: the <head> and the <body>.
The <head> section contains information about the document that isn't displayed directly on the web page. Here you can set the page title using the <title> tag, link to external stylesheets using <link>, define character encoding with <meta> tags, and include other resources like JavaScript files. This part sets the groundwork for how your page behaves and appears, but the real visible content goes into the <body> tag.
The <body> is where the magic happens. It includes all the content that users actually see when they visit the website—headings, paragraphs, images, videos, links, and so on. Headings are defined using <h1> to <h6>, with <h1> being the largest and most important, usually reserved for the main title. Paragraphs are added using the <p> tag, and images come through with the <img> tag, which requires an src attribute to point to the image file and an alt attribute for accessibility. If you want to add a link, you’ll use the <a> tag with an href attribute, which tells the browser where the link should go.
HTML also allows you to group and organize content using structural tags like <div> and <section>. A <div> is a general-purpose container that doesn’t carry any semantic meaning but is useful for applying styles or scripts. On the other hand, <section>, <article>, <nav>, and <footer> offer semantic structure, which helps search engines and screen readers better understand your content.
Forms are another essential part of HTML, enabling user interaction. Using the <form> tag, you can collect user inputs with fields like <input>, <textarea>, and <select>. Each input type serves a specific purpose, like collecting text, selecting options, or submitting data.
As your page grows, keeping your HTML organized becomes important. Indentation and comments (written as <!-- comment here -->) help keep things readable. You don’t need to memorize every tag, but understanding how HTML is structured will give you a solid foundation to build on. As you progress, you'll mix HTML with CSS and JavaScript to create fully dynamic, styled, and interactive web experiences. But it all begins with a clean, well-structured HTML document.
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