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HTML - Hypertext Markup Language with a client-side image map

What is a HTML file

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the standard for creating websites. The idea was proposed in 1989 by physicist Tim Berners-Lee at CERN. Web browsers can read this language to interpret the coding into different texts, colors, formats (headings, paragraphs, quotes, and other semantics), hyperlinks, and can insert images or audio using URL embedding. HTML allows interactivity due to what it can accomplish, but the user can only see the final product, not the coding, unless there was an error. Users can see the HTML coding by looking at the “View Source” tab on their browser. Some email programs allow the use of HTML to format the text of a document. HTML is related yet separated from XHTML.

HTML Elements (tags) are enclosed in the <> style of brackets and most have start and finish commands (ex: and ) . Some are independent (such as ) and therefore have no start and end command. HTML 4 is readable by the common modern browsers and HTML 5 is developed to include new features. The new elements include:

Here's a small, but not exhaustive list of programs that can open HTML documents:

  • Internet Explorer
  • Mozilla Firefox
  • Google Chrome
  • Opera
  • Safari
  • Other internet browsers