HTML Overview

• What is HTML?

  HTML is an acronym for Hyper Text Markup Language. "So what does that mean?", you may ask.

  Hyper Text
  Hyper Text is a method of presenting information in such a way that the document itself can be used as a cross-reference to other documents on a similar subject. The document (this one, for example) reads like any other. Occasionally, as you read, portions of the text are encountered which are in a much different font or color. You can select one of these words using your mouse, track ball, cursor keys, or whatever. That act will take you to another document.

  The word that you select is called a hyperlink or simply a link. Using hyperlinks in a document is a very natural way of presenting a collection of documents that are inter-related. This method of referencing documents is called associative indexing. The association between the key phrase and the destination document is made official using HTML.

  The interactive nature of this sort of document is what gives it the name hypertext. It is text, plus formatting, plus interactivity.

  Markup Language
  A Markup Language is a formalized way of inserting special formatting codes into a document. These codes are not displayed, but they control how the document looks and behaves. In the case of HTML, they also control the associations between the links and the documents to which they refer.

  HTML is a Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML). SGML is a formal definition of how markup languages should behave. HTML is not the only SGML. SGML has little or nothing to do with the WWW, the network, or even hypertext. It merely provides a framework for how markup should work. HTML uses this model, because it allows for easy portability to new systems.

• What Applications does it have?

  HTML is part of the World Wide Web. WWW attempts to reconcile the various types of information on the network, and the many methods by which that information may be accessed. It does this by providing a familiar, standard interface to the user.

  HTML has an advantage over other information servers in that almost all of the information you reference as an author need not reside locally. You may refer to network information services, documents, images, sounds, movies, news services, etc, without having to administer them.

  Even without the network and its schemes for sharing data, HTML is a useful tool for keeping track of local data. It allows an author to construct a document such that the reader can immediately jump to the portions that he is interested in. Links can be provided which allow virtually limitless permutations in the order in which a reader encounters material. This has the advantage of always presenting the information in the order the reader wants it.

• Why should you want to know HTML?

  HTML is quickly becoming the standard for information provision using the Internet. If you want to "publish" anything on the network, you will need to know HTML. Even if your document is not written in HTML, the access method likely will be.