What is the purpose of the declaration?

To tell the browser which HTML version to use

HTML: Introduction

Understanding the foundation of web development.

What is HTML?

HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. It is the standard markup language for creating web pages and web applications.

HyperText refers to links that connect web pages to one another
Markup Language means it uses tags to define elements within a document
HTML describes the structure of a web page semantically
It is not a programming language – it doesn't have logic or calculations

History of HTML

1991

HTML 1.0 : Created by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN. It was a simple way to share documents with basic formatting and hyperlinks.

1995

HTML 2.0 : The first standard version, formalized by the IETF.

1997

HTML 3.2 & 4.0 : Introduced tables, applets, and better styling options.

2000

XHTML : A stricter, XML-based version of HTML.

2014

HTML5 : The modern standard with multimedia support, semantic elements, APIs, and better mobile support. This is the version we use today.

HTML Versions Overview

Version	Year	Key Features
HTML 1.0	1991	Basic tags, hyperlinks
HTML 2.0	1995	Forms, images
HTML 4.01	1999	Stylesheets, scripting, frames
XHTML	2000	XML-based, stricter syntax
HTML5	2014	Semantic tags, multimedia, canvas, APIs

Your First HTML Document:

Your First HTML Document

A simple HTML page with a heading and a paragraph.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>My First Page</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Hello World!</h1>
    <p>This is my first HTML page.</p>
  </body>
</html>

Understanding HTML Syntax

Anatomy of an HTML Element

Hello World

Opening tag (starts the element)
class="intro"Attribute (provides extra information)
Hello WorldContent (the visible text)
Closing tag (ends the element)

📝 Important Notes:

Tags are case-insensitive, but lowercase is recommended
Some elements are self-closing (e.g., <img />,  )
Proper nesting is essential, tags must close in reverse order of opening
Attributes are always placed in the opening tag
Attribute values should be enclosed in quotes

Knowledge Check

1. In what year was the first version of HTML created by Tim Berners-Lee?

2. What does HTML stand for?

3. Which HTML version introduced semantic elements?

4. In the element Hello World, what is 'Hello World'?

5. What is the purpose of the <!DOCTYPE html> declaration?