/ˈhaɪpərˌtɛkst ˈmɑːrkʌp ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ/
noun — “the skeleton of the web, giving structure to everything you see (and sometimes don’t) in your browser.”
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the standard markup language used to create and structure content on the web. It tells browsers how to display text, images, links, headings, lists, tables, forms, and multimedia. HTML is not a programming language—it does not perform logic or calculations—but it provides the essential framework upon which CSS styles and JavaScript interactivity are applied. HTML is the foundation of all websites and web applications.
HTML uses a system of elements represented by tags (like <h1>, <p>, <img>) to define the structure of content. Attributes provide additional information about elements, such as specifying image sources, link destinations, or accessibility information.
In practice, using HTML might include:
// Basic HTML document structure
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>My First Page</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Welcome to My Website</h1>
<p>This is a paragraph of text.</p>
<a href="https://example.com">Visit Example</a>
<img src="logo.png" alt="Site Logo">
</body>
</html>
Hypertext Markup Language is like the blueprint of a building: it defines walls, doors, and rooms, but leaves the decoration (CSS) and automation (JavaScript) for other layers. Without HTML, the web would have no structure, no links, and no readable content.
See CSS, JavaScript, Web Development, Frontend Development, Semantic HTML.