A Closer Look at the Idea Behind HTML

A Closer Look at the Idea Behind HTML

"This is day 1 of learning or relearning HTML outside the ordinary and inside the realm of modern, experienced developers."

We can discuss the article in the comments if you don't want to read it. However, I recommend that you keep an eye out for the section where I asked you a question ;-).


The Term "HYPER TEXT" :

In HTML, "hypertext" refers to text that contains links to other content, such as web pages or resources.

Hypertext allows users to navigate between different pages or sections of a web page by clicking on links.

The very basic reason for creating HTML was for sharing information and going "hyper," where "hyper" means "beyond," to access that information.

HTML uses hypertext to create a network of interconnected web pages and resources, which is the foundation of the World Wide Web.

When a user clicks on a hyperlink, they are taken to the destination document or resource, which may be located on the same website or a different website altogether. This allows for a non-linear browsing experience, where users can navigate between different pages and resources on the web by following hyperlinks.


The Term "MARKUP" :

In HTML, "markup" means using tags to indicate structure and formatting.

Tags provide instructions to web browsers on how to display content, such as headings or paragraphs.

Markup provides structure and meaning to web page content.

HTML is a markup language, not a programming language. Web browsers use HTML markup to display content.


Hyper Text Markup Language:

HTML is a markup language that uses hypertext to create a network of interconnected web pages and resources.

Where the term hyper text creates this unlimited network of interconnected web pages accessible to the user using hyperlinks

and the term markup helps to give structure and meaning to the web page which web browser use to display the content to user!


Here's a great question I would like to ask you:

Can information be accessed over a internet if we didn't had this concept of hyper text?

The answer is,

YES!

Before HTML, plain text documents were used to access information over a network, but they were limited in their ability to provide formatting or interactivity beyond basic text. For example look at image below:

I've created a folder with a few pieces of information, and I can navigate through the folders without using HTML.

As you can see, I can navigate folders without using HTML.

Here, I opened the first HTML tutorial.png.

As you can see the information is still accessible but it does not has that rich interaction with user and works in a linear way only!

That's where the concept of hypertext and markup language comes from. Hyper text helps to access in information beyond the linear way,

and markup language helps us structure and give meaning to the content!

Early network technologies like Usenet and IRC allowed for real-time communication, but were also limited in providing rich media or interactivity.

HTML and the World Wide Web overcame these limitations and provided a new era of dynamic and multimedia-rich web content.


But HTML didn't come out of thin air; HTML is the evolved language of a few earlier markup languages.

Evolution of Markup Languages:

-Internet started with a language called GML [Generic Markup Language] introduced by CERN Labs [Council for European Research and Nuclear].

- SGML [Standard GML] is super set to GML

1990: Tim Berners-Lee introduced HTML as a superset of SGML.

IETF [Internet Engineering Task Force] developed HTML versions up to version 3.1.

- In 2004 WHATWG [Web Hyper Text Technology Work Group] started developing and evolving HTML from version HTML 4.

The latest version of HTML is HTML 5, evolved and maintained by WHATWG.
[2014 - HTML 5]


I guess this article did a good job explaining what HTML really is, why it was built, what hypertext means, and what markup language means!

If you have any query related to this article, then let me know in the comment section. You will find the summary in the comment section. Discuss it there with me and other people who want to ENGAGE with and RELEARN HTML in a more meaningful and in-depth way!

Adios ✌.

Cover credits - https://twitter.com/GulAmaan .