HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is the basic language of the Web. It is the structural layer of web pages. It is an open format language, which anyone can use and alter. Regardless of the kind of website or application you are interested in building and developing, HTML is the ‘go to’ language. It is the one you need to grasp before any other.

Website Creation

The first version of HTML was released over 20 years ago, and it has since dominated the World Wide Web. Updated versions of the language have been released, and nowadays HTML5 is used. It was released in October of 2014, and a 5.1 draft is being used worldwide.

Treehouse’s HTML section has 11 courses and 5 workshops. There is no specific track for HTML, but some of the courses in the HTML category are featured in Treehouse’s front end web development learning track.

Examples of HTML courses are: Prototyping with Foundation for Apps, Responsive Images, Build a Blog with Jekyll and GitHub Pages, and HTML Forms. There is also a Treehouse Club: HTML course for complete novices, which acts as a wonderful first step for newbies.

Course Review: How to Make a Website

This course is instructed by Nick Pettit. It is a beginner course, and it is meant for students who have never built a website before. People who have no coding or design experience may be deterred from this world, but this course provides a good starting point.

It is a project-based course, where students learn how to build a modern portfolio website for desktops, tablets, and mobile devices. The course kicks off with basic HTML and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) syntax. Next, Pettit teaches how to build custom web pages, complete with image gallery and contact page. At the final stage of the course, students learn how to share a website on the web.

Instructor Nick Pettit

The topics covered in this course are:

• How to write basic HTML – document structuring
• How to style web pages with CSS – colors, fonts, navigation
• Responsive web design
• Debugging
• How to purchase a domain and hosting
• How to upload files

This is a course which runs over eight hours in length. It provides an in-depth look into the heart of the web and webpage design. How to Make a Website is made up of 10 modules, and these modules contain lectures, coding challenges, and short assessment quizzes.

Course Review: HTML

This is another beginner course, instructed by the same Nick Pettit. This tutorial training course helps students master HTML. HTML has many different elements, and understanding them is critical for any type of web professional. Some of the topics may overlap with the previews course, but there is still so much to learn.

HTML

The topics covered in this course are:

• HTML – an introduction
• Text
• Lists
• Links
• Objects
• Tables
• Forms

This is a 4-hour course, and it explores the elements which make up a web page. Pettit’s HTML has seven modules, and within these modules are lectures, assessment quizzes, and coding challenges.

About the Instructor: Nick Pettit

Pettit is a teacher at Treehouse, and an independent game developer.

HTML is the building blocks of the World Wide Web. It has been around for 22 years, and it keeps on developing and getting stronger. Its presence is constant, and web developers use HTML every single day to create the content that we see before us in our web browsers.

Using HTML, students can build elaborate and responsive web pages. And, by implementing accompanying styling programs (such as CSS), the results can be beautiful. Understanding the basics of HTML, and going beyond the basics, is fundamental for any web-developing professional.