HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language and is the standard markup language for creating web pages. Web browsers read HTML files and render web pages. HTML is a markup language, not a programming language because it represents the structure of a webpage rather than giving the page functionality.
Because HTML is a markup language and not a true programming language, the basics of HTML can be covered quickly, making HTML easy to learn compared to counterparts like CSS.
For this reason, I suggest that the first language you learn on your coding journey is HTML. Once you get your first language under your belt, you will be ready for the next one, likely CSS. You can find out how long it took me to learn HTML in this article.
Do you need coding experience to learn HTML
Because HTML is a relatively easy language to learn, you do not need any prior coding experience to start learning HTML. What would help you, in the long run, would be to understand the basics of computers before jumping into learning HTML.
While “understanding the basics” of computers may sound daunting, it shouldn’t be. There is a great (and free) course offered by Harvard that you can take called CS50. I have done this course, and I found it very helpful in my coding journey.
What are the basics of HTML
HTML at its core is a markup language that creates the structure of web pages. Because HTML is a structural language, it is vitally important to understand the basic structure of an HTML document.
The basic structure of an HTML document is made up of the <html>, <head> and <body> tags. Understanding these tags and what can and should be included in them are the basics of HTML.
You can learn more about these tags in our basic HTML document structure article.
What is the best way to learn HTML
As with most programming languages, the best way to learn something is by practising it. The problem with practising is that it normally involves you coming up with an idea to practise your skills. Before you get to the point where you feel you are ready to practice your skills and build things, you may want to get a basic understanding of the theory. Here are some of the Best ways for beginners to learn HTML from scratch.
Once you have the theory down, you can start to build things, but what? You no longer need to spend hours thinking of an idea to practise your coding skills because of the Free site FrontendMentor. Frontend mentor has a vast range of project ideas to start practising your skills. Simply login and start coding in your browser!
You will notice that many of the HTML projects include CSS. While you can do what is referred to as inline styling, this is generally not recommended, mainly because of these 6 reasons why inline styling is bad.
So how are you going to practise your HTML if you need to know CSS?
Can you Learn CSS and HTML together
CSS and HTML are both markup languages, but they do different things. While HTML is mainly about page structure, CSS is about styling, making your page look beautiful by adding effects and layers.
Both CSS and HTML have a similar syntax and use similar keywords for styling. Although CSS and HTML are two different languages, they complement each other well and can be learnt together. Learning CSS and HTML together may advance your coding skills faster than learning them separately and picking up bad habits like inline styling.
But don’t be fooled. Just because CSS is a markup language, it is significantly more difficult to learn than HTML, specifically the basics of HTML.
Conclusion
HTML is relatively easy to learn. The best way to learn HTML is to understand the basics of HTML and then jump into coding. When learning to code, you must break the tutorial wall, which you can easily do with FrontendMentor.
Once you have a good understanding of the basics of HTML, it’s time to jump into CSS; luckily, the syntax of CSS and HTML are similar, which means you can learn these two languages together.
I hope this article inspired you to take that leap and start learning to code. Click Here to meet other new coders like you and join our community.
