Level One

Level One

Foundation web development concepts - HTML, CSS, JavaScript

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How the Web Works

What HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are, and how the three languages work together to build every website you've ever visited

Week 0

Topics

What is HTML?

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the language that gives a web page its structure and content

Key Points

  • HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language
  • It describes the structure of a web page using elements called tags
  • HyperText means pages can link to each other — the foundation of the World Wide Web
  • HTML is not a programming language; it is a markup language — it labels content
  • Every visible thing on a web page (headings, paragraphs, images, links) starts as HTML

Interactive Code Examples

<!-- HTML gives the page its raw structure and content -->
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <title>My First Web Page</title>
</head>
<body>

  <h1>Welcome to My Site</h1>
  <p>This is a paragraph of text.</p>

  <img src="cat.jpg" alt="A cute cat">

  <!-- A hyperlink — the "HT" in HTML -->
  <a href="https://google.com">Go to Google</a>

  <ul>
    <li>Item one</li>
    <li>Item two</li>
  </ul>

</body>
</html>

💡 Explanation: HTML uses opening and closing tags like <h1></h1> to wrap content. The browser reads this file top-to-bottom and builds a visual page. Without CSS it has no colour or layout; without JavaScript it has no interactivity — just structure.

HTML's Role on the Page

HTML

Structure and content — the skeleton of the page

When to use:

Defining what is on the page: headings, text, images, links, forms

Example:

<h1>Hello</h1> <p>Welcome to my site.</p>

Without HTML

There is no page — the browser has nothing to display

When to use:

N/A — HTML is the minimum required for any web page

Example:

A blank white screen in the browser