Coding Terms
Knowing what a site is and how they work (even if just vaguely) will give you a leg up on someone who's trying to wing it. Here we give you some definitions of the coding aspects of web design.
What is HTML?
HTML is an acronym for HyperText Markup Language and is the basis for any website, including this one. There have been several versions of HTML, with the latest official recommendation being HTML 4.01 as defined by the W3C. Using HTML, you tell the browser how your content is written. As another writer put it, "HTML is a semantic and structural language" used to markup the site, similar to "how teachers markup papers with a red pen", but for the web.
There are several different versions of HTML and XHTML available at the moment, including HTML 4.01 Transitional, HTML 4.01 Strict, XHTML 1.0 Strict and XHTML 1.1.
We'll be using mostly html 4.01 strict throughout this tutorial, only because several of the discussed tags are now deprecated or not part of official specifications.
Who is the W3C?
The W3C stands for the World Wide Web Consortium. This is the group of people who make recommendations about what the different browser languages (HTML, XHTML, XML, etc.) should look like and how to implement them for rendering in browsers.
What's XML?
XML stands for Extensible Markup Language. It allows writers to create their own tags and structure for sites and applications. The full content is beyond the scope of this site, but if you're interested, take a look at the additional resources on the homepage.
What's a tag/element?
A tag is usually half of an element (although the term is used interchangeably with element). The opening and closing body tags (<body></body>) comprise the body element. Some elements don't have a closing tag and referred to as "empty elements", but the in xhtml specs the element must still be closed with a trailing />.