Understanding HTML and CSS from Scratch

HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language, and it's used to create the structure and content of web pages. HTML is the backbone of a website, making it possible for users to view and interact with online content.

CSS, or Cascading Style Sheets, is a styling language that adds visual appeal to web pages by controlling layout, colors, and font styles. CSS is like the makeup artist of the web, making everything look nice and polished.

To start building a website, you'll need to understand the basics of HTML and CSS. HTML provides the underlying structure, while CSS adds the visual flair. Think of it like building a house – HTML is the frame, and CSS is the paint job.

As you begin to learn HTML and CSS, you'll discover that HTML tags are used to wrap content, such as headings, paragraphs, and images. These tags help search engines and browsers understand the meaning of the content.

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HTML and CSS are the foundation of everything you see on the web. They work together to create the layout and visual style of a webpage.

HTML is the raw data that makes up a webpage, including text, links, cards, lists, and buttons. CSS, on the other hand, adds style to those plain elements by positioning information, changing the font, and adding color.

You can think of HTML as the building blocks of a webpage, while CSS is the decorator that makes it look great. However, labeling HTML and CSS as programming languages is not entirely accurate, as they are only concerned with presenting information, not programming logic.

Here's a quick rundown of what you'll be learning in this section:

Remember, HTML and CSS are essential for creating a great user experience, and you'll need them both to be successful in web development.

HTML Elements are the building blocks of a web page. They define the structure and content of a web page, and are used to create a visually appealing and user-friendly interface.

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Headings are a type of HTML element that are used to indicate the importance and structure of content on a web page. There are six levels of headings, from h1 to h6, with h1 being the most important.

A heading element is typically displayed in a larger font size and style than regular text. This makes it easy to see the main headings of a web page.

The HTML element img is used to embed an image into a web page. This element requires two attributes: src and alt. The src attribute specifies the location of the image file, while the alt attribute specifies a text description of the image.

The img element is commonly used to add visual interest to a web page, or to provide additional information to users who may not be able to see the image.

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Code validation is a must-have tool for any web developer. No matter how careful we are when writing our code, we will inevitably make mistakes.

The W3C has built both HTML and CSS validators that will scan code for mistakes, helping it render properly across all browsers. Validating our code is a great way to learn the best practices for writing code.

By using these validators, we can catch errors before they become big problems, and make sure our code is clean and efficient.

Code validation is crucial for ensuring your code is error-free and compatible with different browsers and devices.

CSS has evolved to support different directionality of content, including right-to-left and top-to-bottom content like Japanese.

Writing modes, such as right-to-left and top-to-bottom content, are becoming increasingly important as you progress in your study and begin to work with layout.

To test your skills, try identifying the different writing modes used in a given code snippet.

In recent years, CSS has become more flexible and adaptable to various writing modes, making it easier to work with different types of content.

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Code validation is a crucial step in ensuring our code renders properly across all browsers. Thankfully, we have validators like the W3C's HTML and CSS validators to scan our code for mistakes.

Making mistakes in our code is inevitable, but using validators can help us catch errors and teach us the best practices for writing code.

Using resets is a crucial step in ensuring cross-browser compatibility in your web development projects. Every web browser has its own default styles for different elements, which can lead to inconsistencies in how your website looks across different browsers.

To address this issue, CSS resets have become widely used. A CSS reset takes every common HTML element with a predefined style and provides one unified style for all browsers. This involves removing any sizing, margins, paddings, or additional styles and toning these values down.

Eric Meyer's reset is one of the most popular resets available, and it's been adapted to include styles for the new HTML5 elements. To use a CSS reset, you'll need to add it to the top of your style sheet, ensuring that it's read first by all browsers.

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Here are the key benefits of using a CSS reset:

By using a CSS reset, you can create a solid foundation for your website's styling and ensure that it looks great across all browsers.

Selectors are a fundamental part of CSS, and understanding how to use them is crucial for styling your HTML elements.

Selectors target specific HTML elements and can be as specific or as general as needed. They can target elements by their type, class, or id attribute value.

Type selectors are the most common type of selector and target elements by their element type. For example, to target all division elements, you would use the type selector "div".

Class selectors, on the other hand, allow you to select an element based on the element's class attribute value. Class selectors are a little more specific than type selectors, as they select a particular group of elements rather than all elements of one type.

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ID selectors are even more precise than class selectors, as they target only one unique element at a time. ID selectors use an element's id attribute value as a selector and should be reserved for significant elements.

Here are the different types of selectors and how they are denoted in CSS:

Selectors can be as specific or as general as needed, and understanding how to use them will help you to effectively style your HTML elements.

You can start learning HTML CSS on Coursera for free by previewing the first module of many HTML CSS courses, which includes video lessons, readings, graded assignments, and Coursera Coach.

This preview option is available for all HTML CSS courses, giving you a taste of what the full course has to offer.

To get the most out of this preview, pay attention to the video lessons and readings, as these will give you a solid understanding of the basics.

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You can also start a 7-day free trial for Specializations or Coursera Plus, which gives you full access to all course content across eligible programs.

Here are your options for taking advantage of the preview or trial:

If you want to keep learning or earn a certificate in HTML CSS, you can upgrade or apply for financial aid after the preview or trial.