HTML Essential Training by Lynda.com

I'm currently working on the course "HTML Essential Training" on the website Lynda.com. I have learned HTML before, but HTML has evolved since then so I want to update my skills. Additionally, I wanted to refresh my memory on the basics of HTML since I have not worked with it recently.

Thus far, I've went through the introduction and the first two parts of the course. I really like the course. The instructor in the videos does his best to make sure the audience is not intimidated by the material. He even tells the viewers that HTML is easy to learn!

A few things that I either never learned before or had forgotten about HTML:
  • "Markup language" means that the language marks up content to explain what that content is and how it relates to other content on the page.
  • There are two kinds of attributes:
    • Informative
    • Functional
  • Back around the year 2000, the W3C tried to move HTML towards XML, but this did not end up working out.
  • We should always declare the character encoding in the head of the HTML document using the meta tag.
  • I learned the term "content models"
    • This term sounded complicated at first, but it's just a fancy way to define different types of content.
  • HTML5 has 7 main content models:
    • 1. Flow
    • 2. Metadata
    • 3. Embedded
    • 4. Interactive
    • 5. Heading
    • 6. Phrasing
    • 7. Sectioning
One thing I really like about this course so far is the sandwich analogy the instructor used to talk about the parts of an HTML document.

If the HTML page is a sandwich, then:
  • The opening and closing HTML tags are the 2 pieces of bread
  • The head is the condiments
  • The body is the meat of the sandwich
The one part that doesn't fit into the sandwich analogy seems to be the DOCTYPE declaration. This goes before the opening HTML tag. Maybe that could be compared to the packaging the sandwich is in. If you buy a sandwich at a restaurant, sometimes they will label it on the packaging. This is like the DOCTYPE declaration.

Lynda.com says that I am 19% done with this course and I look forward to the next 81%. Thanks for reading!

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