HTML Series

HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) is the markup language for creating Web pages. HTML defines the content and semantic structure of Web pages. CSS defines the presentation of the HTML in the Web Browser.

It is the combination of HTML and CSS that “defines” what the user will see. You could add JavaScript in the mix here as JavaScript is the language that executes in the browser and adds dynamic abilities to web pages.

In a world where technology choices abound, the realm of Web Browsers is unusual in that there is really only a single choice: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. If you are going to program for the Web, you had better get good at these three.

The complexities arise in the subtle differences between how different rendering engines (Web Browsers), and even different versions of the same engines, treat different aspects of this technology stack. In particular, the nuance of getting CSS to display the same across multiple browser types will inevitably drive you mad, but consider it a right of passage towards mastery. We all have our CSS war stories to tell.