How HTML Works

1. Structure of HTML

HTML documents are plain text files with the .html extension. They are composed of elements enclosed in tags, defining the content and structure of a webpage.

Basic Anatomy of an HTML Document

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>A Web Page</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Welcome to My Page</h1>
    <p>This is a paragraph.</p>
    <a href="https://example.com">Visit Example</a>
</body>
</html>

<!DOCTYPE html>: Declares the document as HTML5.
<html>: Root element of the HTML document.
<head>: Contains metadata like the title, links to stylesheets, and scripts.
<body>: Contains the visible content of the webpage, such as text, images, and links.

2. How HTML is Processed

The Browser Fetches the HTML File:

When a user enters a URL or clicks a link, the browser sends a request to the server hosting the webpage.
The server responds with the HTML file.

HTML is Parsed:

The browser parses the HTML line by line, recognizing elements and their hierarchy.
Each element contributes to the Document Object Model (DOM), a structured representation of the HTML document.

Rendering:

The browser uses the DOM to render content visually on the screen.
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and JavaScript enhance the design and interactivity of the HTML content.

3. Key Features of HTML

Elements and Tags

Tags: Enclosed in <> to define the type of content. Most tags come in pairs, e.g., <h1> and </h1>.
Attributes: Provide additional information about elements, e.g., <a href="https://example.com">.

Nested Structure

HTML elements can be nested to create complex layouts. For example:

<div>
    <h1>Title</h1>
    <p>Some content</p>
</div>

Hyperlinks and Media

HTML enables linking to other pages (<a>), embedding images (<img>), and including videos and audio (<video> and <audio>).

How HTML Works: An Overview