Best Resources to learn HTML - For Beginners
HTML is a markup language behind webpages. This very page you are reading is coded in a markup language called HTML. Having learnt HTML, I feel that every active internet user must learn HTML. Its makes browsing experience comfortable as now you understand the foundation of webpages. For a quick preview of HTML, Just press Ctrl+U on you keyboard. Do you see hundreds of angle brackets? That is HTML. By seeing this madness itself, you may get discouraged, but believe me, HTML is a very easy language. Some angle brackets, some words in them and you are done :). It does not take days to learn it. In a few hours you will be able to create a simple if not robust web page.
Lets say that you have learnt HTML. Now, are you a coder? Can you create a pretty looking webpage? NO!. HTML just gives structure to a webpage. For good looking webpages, you need to learn CSS. CSS is used to design webpages. HTML and CSS together give fully working webpages. Each and every web page that you visit are made of these basic components. CSS really is not a language at all. Its basic english. Lets say we want you webpages to be 1000 pixels wide, then we write width: 1000px;. Really its that simple.
Now that you have made up your mind to learn HTML and CSS. Where are you going to learn them? If you are a starter and you dont know anything about HTML or CSS, I suggest you to see this exceptional video first.
- Google's HTML, CSS, and Javascript from the Ground Up
- Opera Web Standards Curriculum
- Mozilla Developer CDN
- HTMLdog
Note: I find W3schools a good resource to learn HTML interactively.In fact I too learnt it there. However, a website called w3fools, founded by a group of front end developers claims that there are lot of errors at w3schools and recommends to avoid it.
These are more than enough. However if you are comfortable with the printed form, you can consider Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML
After getting introduced to web design, the best way to continue is to experiment. Create good looking web pages, check for errors here and keep getting better at it every time. Make it a habit to view source of each and every page you visit. I have learnt HTML and CSS two years ago.But even today, when I view source of web pages, i get to know something new. And that is the way you get better at it.
Learn, experiment, view source and have fun!