The language of web pages
HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. It is the language used to build every web page you see. HTML does not do calculations; instead it describes the parts of a page — headings, paragraphs, images and links — so that a browser such as Chrome knows how to show them.
Tags, elements and attributes
HTML uses tags written inside angle brackets. Most tags come in a pair: an opening tag and a closing tag with a slash. The opening tag, content and closing tag together form an element. For example, <p>Hello</p> is a paragraph element. A tag can also carry an attribute that gives extra information, like <a href="page.html">.
Key idea
A tag is written as <name>. A closing tag adds a slash: </name>. Opening tag + content + closing tag = one element.
Building a simple page
A basic page has a <html> element containing a <head> (with the <title>) and a <body> (the visible content). Common tags include <h1> for a big heading and <p> for a paragraph.
Example
<body><h1>My Page</h1><p>Welcome!</p></body>
The browser shows a big heading and a paragraph below it.