HTML

(Hypertext Markup Language)

You could imagine HTML as a kind of digital Lego. In the same way we can create structures using Lego from brightly coloured blocks of plastic, HTML works by creating building blocks of computer code (known as HTML elements) which can then be organised by a web browser into a rendered, coherent web page. 

Web browsers process a text-encoding system called a ‘markup language’ to compose text, images and other content into visual web pages. One of the most commonly used markup languages is known as Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML. 

The development of HTML is closely linked to the earliest origins of the internet itself. In 1989, Tim Berners-Lee, the British physicist who was a key pioneer of the World Wide Web, proposed an internet-based hypertext system for computers to share information. He wrote the first iteration of the browser and server software for HTML in 1990. 

HTML is as central to the function of the internet as the blood circulation system is to the human body. At a fundamental level, the internet works because HTML documents are transmitted from web servers to web browsers via something called Hypertext Transfer Protocol, or HTTP. This system, known as an application layer protocol, was also initially developed by Tim Berners-Lee during his work at CERN, Switzerland, back in 1989. 

At Modular we believe anyone can understand how websites, apps, and other digital technologies work if we talk about tech in plain English. The core technologies that underpin the World Wide Web can actually be quite fascinating if we switch off the jargon, grab a cup of coffee, and take a closer look.  

You can reach out to me for jargon busting advice or to pick my brains on 07584 652854 or email emma@thisisismodular.co.uk

Written by Emma Millington, Head of Customer Relations