What are HTML and CSS?

HTML and CSS are two coding languages that are used to create websites. Nearly every website on the internet uses HTML and CSS to display content in an organized and stylish way.

HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language, and it describes the structure and content of a website. HTML is broken up into elements which are separated by tags at their beginnings and sometimes ends. Tags are written with angle brackets (for example, <img>, <ul>, <input>). When a web browser loads a website, it uses the site’s HTML as instructions for what to display. HTML can display pictures, link to other pages, and group text into headings, paragraphs, lists, and more.

CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. A CSS file is separated into rules which tell a browser how it should display (or style) a site’s HTML, which includes details like font and font size, background color, and an element’s position and alignment relative to other elements on the page.

People often use JavaScript together with HTML and CSS to make their websites more interactive.

To learn more about HTML and CSS, you can take a look at Tynker’s Intro to Web Development course, which will teach you the basics of how to make your own website.