The Internet Web Browser
In order to understand basic web design, you must have an understanding how an Internet web browser works. A web browser is what you are using to view this web page. How a web browser works is pretty simple- really. Internet web browsers read and interpret HTML code and then displays that code as a web page in your web browser. There are many available web browsers to choose from. Microsoft operating systems, such as Windows XP and
Vista, provide its users with
Internet Explorer Web Browser.
Other useful Internet browsers include; Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome and Safari Browser, to name a few of the most popular.
Each of the above Internet web browsers read and interpret HTML code differently. Not all web browsers are created equally. Thus, in many cases, what you view using one web browser, may not look the same in another web browser. What a web browser reads and interprets is almost entirely dependant on the author of the web page HTML code.
To get an idea what Internet Browsers interpret- that is, the code that makes up this web page on your browser, simply click on the "View" tab, located on the top tool bar and choose "Source", or "View Source". (Depending upon the browser you are using while viewing this page) Or, using your mouse, right click anywhere in the web browser display window of this page and choose/select "View source".
So then, what did you see in the browser view source? What did you get? Most likely, your computer operating system default text editor opened and displayed a text document file that looked much like text garble. That my good Internet friends, is what HTML code looks like. And who you ask... even bothers to use that default text editor anyways? You've probably never seen it before now. Well, that text editor displaying all that text garble happens to be your Operating System's default text editor and now you are on your way to learning HTML.
Understanding how a web browser works, and how it's interpreted display appears in a text file, is one of the first steps of understanding HTML.
