The Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the publishing language for the web.  HTML is based on the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML).  HTML documents are constructed using a series of markup "tags" which tell a web browser how the document should be displayed.  The  tags provide the web browser with general formatting information including font size and emphasis, paragraphs, horizontal lines, and tables.

    HTML tags consist of a left angle bracket (<), a "less than" symbol, followed by name of the tag. It is then closed by a right angle bracket (>), or a "greater than" symbol. Tags are paired with the end tag looking like the beginning tag except a slash (/) precedes the text within the two brackets ( e.g. <H1> and </H1>).Here is a short HTML document using a few basic tags: 

   Here's how it appears when viewed by your browser.

[ NOTE: This Primer is not intended to discuss all the current HTML tags. Other Web documents which discuss HTML tags are the World Wide Web Organization's HyperText Markup Language and NCSA's A Beginners Guide to HTML. HTML guides are also available at the Yahoo! Guides and Tutorials list.]

HTML Structure

    It is important to understand that HTML is oriented towards the structure of a document's content rather than appearance. Each web browser, either text-based or graphical, translates the document as appropriate for local display.  As a result, the way each of the various browsers interpret the tags will change the way a Web page appears from workstation to workstation.

    Since HTML is less dependent on layout and formatting codes, authors can focus on content which is well written and easy to understand.  Simple edits can be done using plain text editors rather than loading into a desktop publishing software and reformatting.  The lack of font style and formatting codes result in files that are generally small in size and can be transferred more quickly across the Internet.

Stylesheets

    The development of stylesheets is changing how some Web sites are created.  With stylesheets, standard HTML documents are written and marked up with the content.  A separate stylesheet is then created which tells the browser how to render the document.  For example, paragraphs should be displayed in 12-point Helvetica with 1-inch margins while Headlines should be blue, 36-point Times Roman.  The content document is referenced to in the display stylesheet.

    There are several benefits of separating the structure and style in this manner.  Multiple HTML documents can point to one stylesheet.  By changing that sheet the look of an entire Web site can change.  Since these stylesheets cascade hierarchically, different stylesheets could be developed for different sections of a Web site.  A sheet can set the banner of every document on a site while other sheets can describe the typography and even override the settings of the sheets before them.

Copyright Concerns

  The Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is maintained as a  non-proprietary public specification by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).  As a public specification, anyone that wants to create a web server, browser, or editor can do so.

  The majority of web browsers on the market have a built-in ability to view the HTML source of a document.  This feature was originally included to assist others developing Web documents to learn HTML.  It is a still commonplace for those teaching introductory HTML and web authoring workshops to instruct their students to save an existing page and then modify it with local content.  

   While viewing the source code of an existing HTML document does not violate copyright, copying source code of any web content (HTML, Java Script, or any other language) in this manner may violate the rights of the owner, no matter how common the practice.

   Is the display of web content through HTML an expression separate from the content?  Although the actual code that comprises HTML is not copyrighted, some argue that the "look and feel" of a web page is covered by copyright even if the underlying HTML code is not similar.  

Additional Resources

WebMonkey : The Web Developer's Resource

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