The mark-up language HTML (HyperText Mark-up Language) has been the basis of the World Wide Web since its beginning in 1992, and it is still probably a wise place to start when learning the skills you need to be a web developer. Being able to write a simple HTML document by hand will come in handy - even when you are building web pages with WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) applications and HTML editors (for example: Dreamweaver, Front Page, et al.).
In this topic you will learn the basics of HTML then start to put it all together in a simple HTML document.
Note that the web is currently moving towards the new mark-up language XHTML. But luckily XHTML is very similar to HTML! (It is actually a combination of XML and HTML). For this reason we will continue to focus on HTML in this learning pack.
After completing this learning pack you will be able to:
Anchor |
---|
An anchor is a marker placed inside a HTML document which allows linking to a particular place within the document - for example a Table of Contents or the widely-used "#top" to link to the top of a page. |
Attribute |
---|
In HTML an attribute is a descriptor that allows you to add specific details to a tag. Common attributes include: align, color, size, target, etc. |
HTML |
---|
HyperText Mark-up Language. HTML is a very simple language used to describe the logical structure and layout of a web document. |
HTML editor |
---|
Software that can help to simplify the process of creating HTML web pages. |
URL |
---|
"Uniform Resource Locator" = web address. Describes the location of a file on the internet. URL is a subset of the broader URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) standard but "URL" is still widely used to describe web addresses. |
WYSIWYG |
---|
"What You See Is What You Get" Used in computing to describe a system in which content during editing appears very similar to the final product. In web design it is used to identify a software program that makes it easier to create web documents by allowing you to see how your page will look in a browser as you edit it. Can also apply to word processors and other software. |
How good is your current knowledge? If you feel you may already have a good grasp of the key skills and knowledge contained in this learning pack, you could start by looking at the self check quiz. If you answer most questions correctly you may be ready to move straight to completing the task!