Dreamweaver MX 2004: Your Connection to the Internet - Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
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Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the foundation of the World Wide Web. It is a set of tags that describes to the client browser how a file should be displayed, which is the core purpose of the Web: displaying files of information.
The earliest HTML documents were just text. Often, they were the text of scientific or research projects, and the way in which they were formatted was important. HTML provided a hierarchical means of organizing and displaying information so it could be viewed in a form that emphasized its structure more than its design. It does so by providing a selection of tags that mark up the raw text in ways the browser can understand.
For instance, you may want to display the raw text file shown in Figure 1-3 so that your fellow scientist can rip you apart for not following standard research guidelines.
Figure 1-3 The sample text file views in a browser
But this file of simple text does not really allow you to organize your content in a way that will have the maximum effect on your colleague and let him or her know that you really do know how to write a good outline. HTML allows you to insert indicators such as the following directly into the text that tell the browser on the other end how to display the information:
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>My Research</TITLE>This is my researchTopic One</P>
<P>This is what I found when I investigated topic one.I found that all other scientists are idiotsand I should be rich for the finding in Topic Two.</P> Topic Two</P>
<P>Topic two should really make me rich. It is whereI discover a way to convince people that a tax cut meansthey get to keep more of their own money.<BR></P> Summary</P>
<P>In summary, all other scientists are idiots. I shouldbe rich.</P></P>
<P>Thank You</P>
</BODY>
</HTML>
To the end user, these indicators are invisible. They see only the finished product, as shown in Figure 1-4, after the browser interprets your instructions.
Figure 1-4 The sample text file after some HTML tags have
been applied.
One of the great strengths of HTML is the ability to create and execute hyperlinks. Hyperlinks are directions built into the content itself that allow the user to be sent off to related material with a click of the mouse. For instance, suppose your document discusses material for which you relied on the writings of another author whose work is also available on the Internet at its own document address. You could embed a portion of text referring to that work so that when visitors click it they are whisked off to that material, where they can properly appreciate how you had interpreted and extended that information in your own research. It is this interconnected structure that led to the coining of the term World Wide Web. The Web is truly a worldwide mesh of interconnected content.
 This chapter is from Dreamweaver MX 2004: A Beginner's Guide, by Tom Muck and Ray West (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2004, ISBN: 0-07-222996-9). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today.
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