Intro

In this lesson, we’re going to explain what HTML is. We’ll also give a brief explanation of CSS and JavaScript, which are 2 other coding languages used in web development, since that will help you understand the role of HTML.

Although other languages can be used in web development, browsers only understand these 3 languages.

HTML

HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language (you don’t have to memorize this). It’s used to add different types of text, like paragraphs, headings, lists, and links to your web pages, as well as images, video, and audio.

Here’s an example of HTML code that adds a heading and a paragraph:

CSS

By itself, HTML code looks pretty plain in the browser. That’s why developers often use CSS with HTML to make their web pages look better.

CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. CSS isn’t really used to add text to a web page. Instead, it’s used to change colors, fonts, and layouts on a web page.

Here’s an example of CSS code that changes the color and font size of a paragraph element:

JavaScript

JavaScript (or JS for short) is used to make web pages more interactive. For example, you can use it to make elements expand or collapse and appear or disappear, or to toggle CSS styles on an element.

It can also be used to fetch data from a server using what’s called an API.

Here’s an example of some JavaScript code that toggles the visibility of a paragraph by clicking on a button: