By this means, an author can disseminate documents without any knowledge about the computing environment of the reader. HTML is an application of SGML, the Standard Generalized Markup Language. A discussion of SGML is beyond the scope of this guide, readers are strongly urged to read the superb A Gentle Introduction to SGML . For further information on SGML, see Robin Cover's SGML Web Page HTML is easy Although there are a variety of tools available for the creation of HTML documents, nothing more than a text editor or word processor is required. The syntax rules are very simple and can easily be learned in a few hours.
Nothing's that easy Although the syntax rules are simple, they are rules.
Because the language is so simple, and because browsing software has been very forgiving of syntax errors, it is easy come to believe that tag can be used anywhere in the document. The principal 'be conservative in what you offer, and generous in what you accept', is intended to help the Web move gracefully into the next stage of its evolution. As information providers, we can ensure that the information we provide today has some hope of surviving into the next stage by preparing it in conformance with the developing standard. Validation Fortunately, because HTML 2.0, is defined in SGML, there are tools available to validate HTML documents, that is, to test the document against the formal syntax of the markup language and identify any syntax errors. Before the formalization of HTML 2.0, the common method of checking a document was to look at it on one or two browsers, and this is still a good practice.