Tutorial

What is HTML?

Published on November 20, 2020
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By Erin Glass

Senior Manager, DevEd

What is HTML?

Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the standard markup language used to display documents in a web browser. HTML uses tags to label pieces of content as different parts of a web document, such as headings, paragraphs, or links.

First developed by Tim Berners Lee in 1990 while working at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), HTML was one of the key innovative technologies used to publish the world’s first website on August 6, 1991. Since that time, HTML has been significantly updated and expanded but its basic purpose — to format and structure web pages — remains the same.

For more educational resources related to HTML, please visit:

A complete list of educational resources related to HTML is available on our HTML page.

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About the authors
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Senior Manager, DevEd

Open source advocate and lover of education, culture, and community.

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