HTML - An Introduction

So you want to build a web page, or add some spice to your blog, and you heard about this thing called HTML. "What is HTML?" you may ask. It is an acronym standing for Hyper Text Markup Language. There is a lot of background behind the HTML name, but suffice it to say you are making a text document that you will mark up with something called tags. HTML is saved with a .htm or .html extension. Thus my page called "newpage" will become "newpage.htm" or "newpage.html". HTM is intended for older operating systems such as Windows 3.1. You should name your files with the .html extension.

Wikipedia has this to say about the origins of HTML:

"In 1980, physicist Tim Berners-Lee, who was an independent contractor at CERN, proposed and prototyped ENQUIRE, a system for CERN researchers to use and share documents. In 1989, Berners-Lee and CERN data systems engineer Robert Cailliau each submitted separate proposals for an Internet-based hypertext system providing similar functionality. The following year, they collaborated on a joint proposal, the WorldWideWeb (W3) project,[1] which was accepted by CERN.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML

I think this is a good start on the history of HTML, and I don't think I want to bore you with too much more of it. My fellow nerds can look to wikipedia to get more technical stuff.

You may be asking "Why, out of all the people teaching HTML out there, should I listen to you?" I hope to answer that question here.

The Internet, or Web, hit the mainstream in force in 1995. I was just a sophomore in high school at the time. By my senior year the bug hat bit. I was hooked. I have been building web pages for pay, for free, and for personal interest and development since 1997. I am currently employed as the Manager of Web Development and Digital Media at a well-known southern Calfornia Law School. I build and manage pages all day, then go home and build pages all night. I take time for my family and my blogging too, but that is beside the point. I am fluent in HTML, Javascript, PHP, SQL, MySQL, XHTML, and CSS. I have experience in XML, XSL, Java, ASP, PERL, and Apache. I am continually learning new things, and will be passing new knowledge down to you.

Well that about sums it up. Ready to get started? Watch for my next post on Document Type Definitions (DTDs), the cornerstone to modern web page development.