HTML, or HyperText Markup Language, is the principal language used for creating web pages and applications. It structures the content shown on a webpage, including text, images, videos, links, and other resources. Through its use of tags, HTML distinguishes elements within a document for web browsers to interpret and render visually. As a core component in web development, HTML works in conjunction with CSS and JavaScript to design and build internet content.
Tim Berners-Lee developed HTML while working at CERN in the late 1980s as a method to share scientific research efficiently among researchers. This innovation laid the groundwork for what eventually became the World Wide Web. HTML's primary purpose is structuring web page content by defining various elements such as text and multimedia through tags that guide web browsers in rendering visual information seamlessly.
HTML offers competitive advantages due to its simplicity and broad compatibility across different browsers and devices. Its tag-based structure allows consistent organization of webpage content while supporting multimedia elements, forms, and interactive features. Despite alternatives like XHTML with stricter syntax rules based on XML standards or Markdown focused on simplicity for documentation purposes, HTML remains extensively adopted due to its versatility and evolving standards like HTML5 which introduces modern features such as offline storage support and responsive design capabilities essential for contemporary web development projects.