HTML is the lingua franca of the Web. It is the common tongue of the Web that is understood by all computers and devices on the planet. HTML is the acronym for Hypertext Markup Language. Hypertext refers to the ability to create links to other Web pages. Markup means it’s used for creating pages of formatted text, images, and other resources embedded in the page. HTML was created by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990. He also invented the term “World Wide Web” and the first Web browser, and went on to found the World Wide Web Consortium, also known as the W3C. Among other things, the W3C acts as a shepherd watching over the development of Web technologies. It provides guidelines, standards, recommendations, and education on many aspects of Web-related technology. You can find out more about the W3C at www.w3c.org.

Several major revisions of HTML standard were endorsed by the W3C since its founding in the early 1990s. At the time this was written, HTML5 was the official successor to HTML4 and replaced XHTML. A bonus feature for HTML5 is that it is backward compatible. Features of both HTML4 and XHTML were incorporated into HTML5 in addition to its own set of new elements and features. In a nutshell, HTML5 provides standards-based development technologies for modern Web 2.0 applications with highly visual effects and user interactions. This chapter introduces you to the syntax of HTML5. The sample web pages and HTML codes used throughout the rest of this book are based solely on the HTML5 standard.

Read more about the HTML project and see the first and original web site that went online in 1991 here:

http://info.cern.ch – home of the first website

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