What is HTML?
Updated on May 14, 2025
A few things can truly be called the foundation of the Internet, such as HTTP/HTTPS, URLs, IP addresses, etc. In this article, we will discuss one of those foundational blocks: HTML.
HTML, which stands for HyperText Markup Language, is the skeleton of many online pages nowadays. It is still the standard markup language used to define the structure and layout of pages. Read along as we tell you all about this foundational block of the Internet.
This post includes:
What is HTML?
As the name suggests, HTML is a markup language. A markup language is different from other computing languages because it cannot perform logic or operations or tell an application what to do.
Instead, it describes what is on the page. The origin of "markup" comes from printing and publishing words, where editors would add handwritten notes to manuscripts to indicate what different parts of them were. For example, the notes could be anything from a simple [Heading] next to the heading of the manuscript to Make this bold or Italicize this segment. HTML performs a very similar function in computing.
It tells browsers what each part of the web page is. It is used to structure and layout the page, giving it the skeleton upon which content is added.
However, there is also the hypertext portion of HTML. Simply put, hypertext is text that can link to other content (pages, documents, etc.). You might be more familiar with hyperlinks: the blue text on Wikipedia or other text-heavy websites that takes you to another page when clicked. If you look up in this article you will see a few examples of hyperlinks as well! What is the difference, though?
The main difference between hypertext and hyperlinks is that the former is the technology, the text that has the hyperlink in it, while the latter is the actual clickable part that goes to a different piece of content.
So, putting these two things together, HTML is a hypertext-friendly markup language used to define a web page's structure while offering functionality that can interconnect pages. Why is it called "hypertext"? Simple. The prefix "hyper" means "above" or "beyond." In its original meaning in the printing world, the annotations were left above the text of the manuscript. As it is with many other things, the computing world simply borrowed the term and adapted it to its own purposes.
HTML Elements
HTML works with structures called elements. Each element consists of a start tag, content, and an end tag. Here is a quick example of a simple HTML page to demonstrate what we mean.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Welcome to My Site</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Hello, world!</h1>
<p>This is my first webpage.</p>
<a href="https://example.com">Visit Example</a>
</body>
</html>
Let us break it down and explain each element within this page.
- <!DOCTYPE html> - This first element is an exception to what we mentioned earlier. It is not a tag, as it is a declaration. All it does is tell the browser to interpret this as an HTML5 page (HTML5 is the latest version of the language);
- <html> and </html> - These two tags define the start and end of the page. Everything within them is the page's content and structure. It is a root tag necessary for all HTML documents;
- <head> and </head> - This tag contains meta-information about the page. Such information is not visible on the page itself;
- <title>Welcome to My Site</title> - Despite this tag being the title, it is not actually something that will appear on the page itself. It is not a heading that will show on your screen. This title will instead appear in the browser tab or in bookmarks. That is why it is in the head element;
- <body> and </body> - The body element is where the visible part of the page begins. Everything between these two tags will appear on the page and be interactable with by your users;
- <h1>Hello, world!</h1> - The <h1> ( and h2, h3, h4, etc.) tag indicates a heading. This is the title that your visitors will see appear on their screen. Depending on the number–with 1 being the most prominent–the heading will have a different size and boldness;
- <p>This is my first webpage.</p> - This is a paragraph element that contains simple text. All it does is create a paragraph of context on your page;
- <a href= "https://example.com">Visit Example</a> - The <a> tag is an anchor tag and is used to create hyperlinks. Within it, you will see href="… " which tells the browser where the hyperlink goes. In this case, it goes to https://example.com. However, users will see and click on the text between the start and end tags. That is where you put the text you want them to interact with.
As you can see, as long as you know what each HTML tag means, you can read HTML code very easily. It is a nicely structured language. You can head to this hyperlink if you want to see all HTML tags. Also, here is what the small bit of code from above looks like in a browser.
You have the heading, the paragraph, and then the hyperlink that leads to a different page. Of course, this is an incredibly basic example, and with the language, you can create much more complex and exciting pages.
If you would like to learn more about HTML, and its elements and tags, you can check this article on the topic.
HTML Until Now
Earlier, we mentioned that the latest HTML version is 5. To round out this article, here is a quick overview of what each version of HTML introduced. We compiled a quick and easy-to-read table for your convenience.
| Version | Released | What It Introduced / Changed | Why It Mattered |
|---|---|---|---|
| HTML 1.0 | 1993 | Basic elements: paragraphs, headings, links, images, lists. No real styling or structure. | Created a standard way to write simple web documents. First step! |
| HTML 2.0 | 1995 | Form elements (<form>, <input>), more tags like <pre> and <hr>, better structure. |
Made web pages interactive (with forms), and more flexible. |
| HTML 3.2 | 1997 | Style-related tags (<font>, <center>), scripting support (<script>), tables. |
Helped web pages look less plain. Allowed JavaScript and better layout. |
| HTML 4.01 | 1999 | Separation of content and style (CSS encouraged), accessibility, scripting improvements. | Shifted design to CSS, introduced <div> and <span> for layout. |
| HTML5 | 2014 | New semantic tags, native multimedia, canvas, form upgrades, mobile-friendly. | Modern standard — made rich, interactive, app-like experiences possible right in the browser. |
Even though the last HTML version was released in 2014, that does not mean it has seen no improvements since then. It is the so-called "living standard" as it evolves as necessary, even today. Here are some of the most prominent improvements it has seen over the years.
- Enhanced Semantic Elements - Elements such as <header>, <footer>, <article>, and <section> are introduced to the language. These help provide a more meaningful and logical structure to web pages;
- Canvas Element - The introduction of the <canvas> element allows for the dynamic, scriptable rendering of 2D shapes. This innovation opened a whole slew of possibilities in website layouts and appearance;
- Multimedia Elements - Prior to the introduction of the <audio> and <video> elements, multimedia had to be plugged into HTML pages via third-party software (such as Flash). Now that is unnecessary and allows for a more structured and consistent coding;
- APIs - HTML5’s evolution introduced a huge range of APIs that expanded the language’s capabilities immensely. APIs such as WebSockets, WebRTC, Cache API, etc.;
- Mobile Friendly - With mobile devices becoming more prevalent, HTML5 adapted and introduced native mobile support to pages created with it;
- Performance - On top of all the new tools, HTML5 has seen countless performance improvements over the years. Through the refinement of parsing and rendering techniques, HTML5 pages now load much faster than they did in the past.
As HTML lies at the foundation of the Internet and its countless, interconnected pages, learning how the language works is a powerful skill to have. It will give you a foundational understanding of how things work online. It is a solid markup language; without it, the Internet would be a plain-looking place.
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