---
language: html
filename: learnhtml.txt
contributors:
- ["Christophe THOMAS", "https://github.com/WinChris"]
translators:
- ["Robert Steed", "https://github.com/robochat"]
- ["Dimitri Kokkonis", "https://github.com/kokkonisd"]
---
HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language.
It is a language which allows us to write pages for the World Wide Web.
It is a markup language, it enables us to write webpages using code to indicate
how text and data should be displayed. In fact, HTML files are simple text
files.
What is this markup? It is a method of organising the page's data by
surrounding it with opening tags and closing tags. This markup serves to give
significance to the text that it encloses. Like other computer languages, HTML
has many versions. Here we will talk about HTML5.
**NOTE :** You can test the different tags and elements as you progress through
the tutorial on a site like [codepen](http://codepen.io/pen/) in order to see
their effects, understand how they work and familiarise yourself with the
language. This article is concerned principally with HTML syntax and some
useful tips.
```html
My Site
Hello, world!
Come look at what this shows
This is a paragraph.
This is another paragraph.
- This is an item in a non-enumerated list (bullet list)
- This is another item
- And this is the last item on the list
My Site
Hello, world!
Come look at what this shows
This is a paragraph.
This is another paragraph.
- This is an item in a non-enumerated list (bullet list)
- This is another item
- And this is the last item on the list
| First Header |
Second Header |
| first row, first column |
first row, second column |
| second row, first column |
second row, second column |
```
## Usage
HTML is written in files ending with `.html` or `.htm`. The mime type is
`text/html`.
**HTML is NOT a programming language**
## To Learn More
* [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML)
* [HTML Tutorial](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML)
* [W3Schools](http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_intro.asp)