1 Getting to Know HTML and CSS

 

This chapter covers

  • Viewing the fundamentals of HTML and CSS
  • Introducing the Web Design Playground
  • Learning how to construct HTML tags and CSS properties

When a jazz musician creates an improvisation, no matter how intricate, she plays by using combinations of seven musical notes (A through G). When an artist creates a picture, no matter how detailed, he paints by using combinations of three primary colors (red, yellow, and blue). When poets create verse, no matter how inventive, they write by using words that are combinations of the 26 letters of the alphabet. These examples show that creativity and play don’t require elaborate resources or complex raw materials. Imagination and curiosity combined with a few building blocks are all you need to express yourself in almost any art, including the art of web page design. As you learn in this chapter and throughout this book, HTML and CSS provide those building blocks. And although there are more of those blocks than there are musical notes, primary colors, or even letters of the alphabet, there aren’t too many, but more than enough to let you express yourself on an exciting modern canvas: the web.

What Is HTML?

The hardest thing about HTML by far is its name. HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language, which sounds about as inviting as a tax audit. But it becomes a lot less intimidating when you break down its terms.

What Can You Do with HTML?

From Plain Text to HTML: An Example

What Is CSS?

A Note about the Separation of Structure and Presentation

What Can You Do with CSS?

From Structure to Presentation: A CSS Example

What Can’t You Do with HTML and CSS?

How HTML and CSS Create the Web

Introducing the Web Design Playground

Playing with HTML and CSS

Loading the Lesson Files

Preserving Your Work

Lesson 1.1: Introducing HTML Tags

HTML

Adding HTML Tag Attributes

Lesson 1.2: Introducing CSS Properties

CSS

HTML

CSS

HTML

Some Helpful Features of the Playground

Summary