When you use your browser, such as Internet Explorer, to open a web page, the browser software checks the file extension, just like Word and Excel do. It recognizes a web page when it detects the.htm or.html extension and attempts to open it. (Modern browsers, on the other hand, can open a variety of file kinds.) Word and PDF documents can be opened in Internet Explorer.)

However, behind the scenes, the file that Internet Explorer is attempting to access is actually a text file with the extension altered from.txt to.htm. The text file, on the other hand, will include Tags, which are specific symbols and words. When the browser detects these Tags, it begins to show anything you typed while hiding the Tags from your viewers.

HTML is the language used to create the majority of web pages on the internet. HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language, and it's a simple language to grasp. That's because HTML isn't a programming language; rather, it's a tool for improving text presentation. For example, with Microsoft Word, you may choose a font size from a menu if you want a great big heading. HTML also includes a simple method for changing the size of heading text, which you'll see in a moment. But that's really all HTML is good for: displaying text and images on a page. This is accomplished through the use of TAGS.

There are several versions of HTML. When individuals talk about HTML 5, they're referring to the markup language's latest revisions. These revisions were (largely) agreed upon by a slew of various parties, all of which were members of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Tim Berners-Lee, who also conceived the World Wide Web and created the initial version of HTML, founded the W3C in 1994. They are now in charge of defining new Web technologies. Companies like Microsoft (Internet Explorer), Mozilla (FireFox), and Apple (Safari) that develop browsers can then choose which of the new Web technologies to integrate.

The majority of the major browser manufacturers have agreed to integrate many of the W3C's new proposed modifications (specifications). HTML 5 is the general name for these specifications. In reality, this means integrating HTML Video and audio directly into the browser rather than relying on a third-party plugin like Adobe's Flash. A new feature called the Canvas tag is also very exciting. This enables you to use Javascript to generate quite intricate animations and images without the use of a third-party plugin.

There are a slew of new HTML tags that propel browser technology into the twenty-first century.

Throughout this course, we'll introduce you to the essential HTML 5 tags that you need in order to create a modern web page.