HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. It’s a markup language used to create web documents. HTML is very easy to learn and to create web documents. HTML is the extended version of SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language). SGML was used to create official documents in the United States. Basically, HTML was discovered by Mr. Tim Berners-Lee when he worked at CERN and CERN adopted the whole project of HTML and later Dan Connolly and his team worked for further development of HTML.
(HTML 1.0 was released in 1993, while HTML5—widely used today—was officially standardized in 2014.)
Meaning of the Terms
Text: Text means the content you are writing and want to show on the web documents, and HTML has its own tags and elements to maintain the content on it.
Markup: Markup means HTML is used to mark up the content.
Language: Simply means which language you are dealing with.
(Example: In HTML, <p>...</p> marks a paragraph, <h1>...</h1> marks a heading.)
Some Other Resources on Web
HTTP: Hyper Text Transfer Protocol URI: Uniform Resource Identifier. Generally understood as the information source on the World Wide Web. W3C: World Wide Web Consortium is the group that sets technical standards for the web. Domain Name: Your web address or your website name. Web Page: Any document that is contained in a folder on the web server. It can be a text page, audio page, video page or anything.
How to Create an HTML File
To create an HTML file or document or a web page is not a very difficult task.
You can create it by using any HTML editor like Notepad, Dreamweaver or any other editor freely available on the internet, and you can find them very easily through any search engine by typing “free HTML editor,” but we recommend you to use Notepad if you know HTML coding because it’s available on every computer. You can find it in:
Start → Programs → Accessories → Notepad
Or another way is to go to Start → Run and type notepad and press OK, and Notepad will appear on your screen.
(Many modern editors like VS Code and Sublime Text offer syntax highlighting and auto-complete.)
And second thing is, if you are not familiar with HTML coding you need not be worried. From our site you can easily learn HTML language and if you don’t want to learn all codes then just read the coding once only; with this you will get a basic idea of HTML codes and you can go through with Dreamweaver.
Dreamweaver is very easy to operate, and if you have the basic knowledge of HTML you can easily create HTML web pages through it. But at our site we don’t have Dreamweaver tutorials so we will go through the HTML codes with the help of Notepad.
(Visual page builders like Elementor or Wix Editor now allow drag-and-drop HTML layout without coding.)
We have already told you how to open Notepad. Now the time is to create HTML file through it. As we told you in early chapters that HTML is a tagging and markup language so we have to use tags to create it.
Type:
<html>
your web page content will go here
</html>
Then click on File → Save As and a window will appear like this….
Click on the image to look big.
Select any location where you want to save the file. In file name option name your webpage and after type .html like my first web page.html and in “Save as type” option select “All files” and click Save button to save it. Now you can open this file in your browser.
(Example: If you save file as “index.html”, most servers will automatically load it as the homepage.)
And whenever you want to make changes in this document, go to that file, right click on it, select “Open with” and select Notepad, make suitable changes and save it simply. To see the changes you can open it in your browser.
(Modern browsers automatically refresh when using local development tools like Live Server in VS Code.)
Real Examples
Example 1: Basic Web Page
<!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>
This page displays a heading and a paragraph.
Example 2: Adding an Image
<img src="cat.jpg" alt="My Cat" width="300">
The alt tag helps with accessibility and SEO.
Case Studies
Case Study 1: Student Learning HTML
A student learned basic HTML from online tutorials and built a personal portfolio.
Result:
Got freelancer gigs within 2 months
Created projects independently
Case Study 2: Small Business Website
A local business owner created a simple HTML site using Notepad.
Result:
Listed on Google locally
Started receiving customer inquiries online
Spent zero money on website development
Conclusion
HTML is a simple but powerful mark up language which is the backbone of all websites in the internet. Although the current editors and web designers simplify the process, knowing some basic HTML is useful when you need to create, edit, and debug web pages without feeling fear.
As an illustration, being aware of the syntax needed to create a basic HTML document, the use of <html, <head>, and <body> tags will enable you to create an effective webpage using no more than Notepad. Likewise, after saving your file name as a .html, make sure that browsers are able to read the content in it and display it correctly.
It does not matter whether you are making your own webpage, tweaking themes or being able to make layouts, basic HTML knowledge will save you time, lesser the reliability on tools and provide a great level of control on what your web site produces. Simple as it may appear, HTML will be the first step in the process of studying more complex web technologies such as CSS, JavaScript, and modern frameworks.
Here’s a year-by-year History of HTML
Year
Event / Version
What Happened
Key Highlights
1989
Concept of the Web
Tim Berners-Lee proposes a global hypertext system at CERN.
Idea of documents linked by “hypertext” begins.
1990
Early HTML (unpublished)
First HTML browser (WorldWideWeb) and server created.
Internal CERN use; HTML not yet standardized.
1991
First HTML Specification (Draft)
“HTML Tags” document shared by Tim Berners-Lee.
~18 basic tags: <p>, <a>, <h1>, <img>, etc.
1992
Early Adoption
More researchers & universities start using HTML.
The Web starts spreading beyond CERN.
1993
HTML 1.0 (informal)
IETF publishes an Internet-Draft for HTML.
First attempt at a formal HTML spec; not an official standard but often called “HTML 1.0”.
1994
HTML+ Draft
HTML+ proposed as an enhanced version.
Tables, figures, and more structure suggested; also W3C is formed (Oct 1994).
1995
HTML 2.0
IETF publishes HTML 2.0 as an official standard.
Covers core features of the early web; forms are standardized.
1996
HTML 3.2 (W3C)
W3C takes over from IETF; HTML 3.2 released.
Support for tables, applets, text flow around images; browser tag wars begin.
1997
HTML 4.0
Major revision published by W3C.
Introduces CSS support, scripting, better structure, and pushes for separation of content & presentation.
1998
HTML 4.0.1 (bugfix)
Minor revision / errata to HTML 4.0.
Clarifications and small fixes; HTML 4 becomes the long-term base.
Delhi Courses Academy is a leading institute offering the best digital marketing course in Delhi NCR known for its practical training, affordable fees, and industry-focused curriculum. With 15+ certifications, 100% placement assistance, and hands-on projects, it prepares students for real-world challenges.
