Easier way of learning HTML

[hulkbuster]

Hello, folks, i really want to  learn HTML and found lots of articles (free stuffs from the web) and understood a little about it(basics), i was assuming if their was a good Video tutorial or good Web Tutorial that would explain in details and in a systematic way the proper structure to learn HTML in a proper way, the language seems fairly not too tough to understand except for the Java  Scripting part  . That aside i am ready for the amount of time it would take to understand  but can anyone guide me if their is a proper Tutorial material any video or free material not online courses.
 

Thankyou.

[Renegade]

I'd say get an O'Reilly pocket book and just read through it. It's fairly short, and packed with good information. Since it's small, you take it with you and read anywhere -- public transportation, on the toilet... or are those the same thing? But I digress!

The number of tags isn't too high, so it's doable. By learning the tags, you will understand the tutorials.

Basically, knowing the tags is like knowing the tools. Tutorials will then show you how to USE the tools.

Start with a text editor like EditPlus or something. Start slow as well. Build simple documents then progress to learn about layout.

At the beginning, keep CSS in mind, but don't worry too much. Learn that later. Focus on structure to start. e.g. Keep inline elements inside of block level elements, etc.

There are a trillion tutorials out there, so just browse through 20 or so and find some tutorials that you find easy and fun to follow along with. The most important thing is that you find tutorials that fit YOUR style of learning, be that video or whatever.

Always try to remember that you are building a DOCUMENT of sorts. That document can host many things in it, but it is always a document. (HTML is a declarative language, unlike say XSLT which is a functional language.)

Learn JavaScript once you're comfortable with HTML.

A decent order of things to understand is:

HTML 4
CSS
JavaScript
XML
XHTML
HTML 5

You can skip XHTML, or learn that before XML, but it's good to know later on.

Don't get sidetracked with PHP or anything like that until you're comfortable with HTML. Don't let people pressure you, which many will try.

Have fun!

[hulkbuster]

I'd say get an O'Reilly pocket book and just read through it. It's fairly short, and packed with good information. Since it's small, you take it with you and read anywhere -- public transportation, on the toilet... or are those the same thing? But I digress!

The number of tags isn't too high, so it's doable. By learning the tags, you will understand the tutorials.

Basically, knowing the tags is like knowing the tools. Tutorials will then show you how to USE the tools.

Start with a text editor like EditPlus or something. Start slow as well. Build simple documents then progress to learn about layout.

At the beginning, keep CSS in mind, but don't worry too much. Learn that later. Focus on structure to start. e.g. Keep inline elements inside of block level elements, etc.

There are a trillion tutorials out there, so just browse through 20 or so and find some tutorials that you find easy and fun to follow along with. The most important thing is that you find tutorials that fit YOUR style of learning, be that video or whatever.

Always try to remember that you are building a DOCUMENT of sorts. That document can host many things in it, but it is always a document. (HTML is a declarative language, unlike say XSLT which is a functional language.)

Learn JavaScript once you're comfortable with HTML.

A decent order of things to understand is:

HTML 4
CSS
JavaScript
XML
XHTML
HTML 5

-Renegade (May 17, 2011, 10:44 PM)

Thank you for your help in this matter, and laying of the Basic Structure for following this language although i have yet to get a good book and start following the Tutorial , and i am sitting for a class for further learning from next month, learning alone and going through the books, and web pages seems good enough but when their is a real queary to be cleared i think  a teacher can best suffice the need.
                        Although there are a trillion of tutorials out there but all of them lack a proper structure and layout for any real learning of this language,  so far i have downloaded many free HTML editor like notepad++,EditPlus 3,Evrsoft First Page 2006, but they are being of little use right now and i am getting a hard time what to start and proceed step by step with the free tutorial as you suggested.
                       I'll start with tags and CSS and etc;  just a quick question do you know this language and how did you learn it. Not imp to answer just a quickie ..........
                       
                       Thanks:
                       
                       

[Renegade]

Go with an editor like EditPlus because the syntax highlighting will help you learn much easier than editors with poor syntax highlighting. EditPlus is about the strongest in that area, and that's one of the primary reasons why I've been using it for almost 10 years now. EditPlus isn't free, but there are some free ones with good syntax highlighting as well. NotePad++ maybe?

For tutorials, try W3 Schools - http://www.w3schools.com/

They're pretty good.

I really do think that simply using an O'Reilly pocket book is about the fastest way to learn a language quickly, primarily because you can take it anywhere easily and read it where you'd otherwise be doing nothing. They're dense and easy to follow. There's no fluff in them -- it's all pure information. They're relatively cheap too.

I think I might have learned HTML with an OR pocket book... It's been so long that I don't really remember.

I remember I used to read 4 Guys from Rolla a fair bit: http://www.4guysfromrolla.com/ -- You might want to browse there a bit. They used to have good stuff. Not sure about now though.

This seems fairly slow paced, but ordered fairly well:

http://www.html.net/tutorials/html/

HTH

[40hz]

Download a copy of the excellent (and free!) 350-page The Web Book and work your way thought it. Info and download links can be found here.

Excellent guide.  

Update: I just noticed they've introduced a fee to download the PDF since I got my copy. the online version is still available at no charge. I'm sure there are also websites that still have the PDF free for download if it's a problem for people on a really tight budget. Send the author your thanks with a small contribution once your finances improve if you go that route.  

[steeladept]

As I have mentioned elsewhere on this forum, I can't suggest strongly enough that you check out HTML Dog for the HTML4 & CSS.  The author has laid out a beautiful and simple tutorial that teaches these two topics together, the way they should be taught.  It also lends itself to XHTML which is syntactically and conceptually very similar to HTML4.  It is broken down into 6 parts (beginner, intermediate, advanced for HTML & CSS respectively) that not only teach you how to code correctly, but why it is correct and what to watch out for.  He also has a book that is essentially a paper reference of the same topics/subjects as the site provides.

It doesn't cover Javascript or HTML5 (at least not yet), and XML is only covered peripherally, but they are outside the scope of the site anyway.  Well HTML5 may not be, but that is new enough to be forgiven for the moment anyway.

Just for reference, W3 schools have been the preeminent resource everyone points to, but I always found them to be rather confusing or at very least not particularly conducive to learning.  It is obviously just me, but I have found this htmldog.com site to be MUCH easier covering much of the same information in a clearer and more concise manner.  Hope that helps.

[Renegade]

As I have mentioned elsewhere on this forum, I can't suggest strongly enough that you check out HTML Dog for the HTML4 & CSS.  The author has laid out a beautiful and simple tutorial that teaches these two topics together, the way they should be taught. 

-steeladept (May 19, 2011, 01:12 AM)

That is very well laid out. I went through the beginner tutorials quickly, and it follows a nice progression.

[techidave]

Download a copy of the excellent (and free!) 350-page The Web Book and work your way thought it. Info and download links can be found here.

Excellent guide. 

Update: I just noticed they've introduced a fee to download the PDF since I got my copy. the online version is still available at no charge. I'm sure there are also websites that still have the PDF free for download if it's a problem for people on a really tight budget. Send the author your thanks with a small contribution once your finances improve if you go that route. 

-40hz (May 18, 2011, 12:09 PM)

I just downloaded it off of that site without first paying a fee.  I didn't even have to give my email address.   

[40hz]

@techidave - Cool! Guess they changed their mind about it. Their webpage said:

You can read the book online free of charge, or you can download the complete PDF file for a small charge. Refer to the links on the right hand side of the page.

Thanks for the update.

[techidave]

I saw that too 40hz.  And I thought, what the heck let's give it a try first.  Viola!