What Is HTML?

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the markup language used to structure web pages. It is a text-based language that web browsers can read and interpret, and it is used to arrange and describe the text, links, images, tables, forms and other elements of a page.

HTML describes elements wrapped in tags. Tags usually come in pairs — an opening tag (<tag>) and a closing tag (</tag>) — and give the content between them its meaning. For example, the <h1> and </h1> tags mark a heading, the <a> and </a> tags create a link, and the <img> tag adds an image.

Browsers read and interpret HTML so that users can see web pages. HTML is usually combined with other web technologies: CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) for presentation and JavaScript for interactivity. Together, HTML, CSS and JavaScript form the foundation of modern web development.