Beginning HTML5 and CSS3 For Dummies

2

Meeting the Structure and Components of HTML

In This Chapter

Understanding syntax and rules in markup languages

Examining entities in markup

Organizing web pages

Exploring a web page

Working with a markup language such as HTML requires that you understand the conventions used to insert markup into a text file and make sense of the sometimes-cryptic strings of text you may see as a result. But as you dig into the details, it all starts to make a certain kind of sense — a sense you should seek to develop and cultivate if you want to build or edit markup on web pages. Stick with us here, please, as we talk you through some important details involved in reading and understanding HTML.

Like Any Language: Syntax and Rules

HTML is called a markup language for a very good reason: It grabs ordinary, normal text and inserts various strings into that text to define, organize, and manage the flow and sequence of content on web pages. The inserted strings define the markup, which web browsers — or other special programs known as user agents — pore over and use (along with CSS, of course) to ...