html is the platform from which you will build all of your web pages. a solid understanding of html (better, xhtml) is essential in order to create the structure of your pages and incorporate other technologies such as css, javascript, php and ajax. learning things like javascript and php are hard enough on their own without the additional obstacle of foggy html comprehension. luckily the structure and syntax of html is incredibly simple and repetitive. my recommendation is to get this structure down without a hitch and then set yourself up with a good html reference book and website to 'fill in the blanks'. the basic structure of html looks like this:
<tag attribute1="value" attribute2="value">content</tag>
the individual tags, attributes and values can be easily referenced and 'plugged' into this structure as you build your page. below are links to a number of great websites and books that will help you on you way to 'filling in the blanks.'
websites:
www.htmldog.com
www.w3schools.com
www.echoecho.com
www.htmlhelp.com
www.webmonkey.com
books:
HTML & XHTML: The Definitive Guide, 6th Edition Chuck Musciano, et al. O'Reilly Media, 2006. ISBN 0596527322 - this is 'the' reference guide. your encyclopedia of html, if you will. an invaluable resource!
HTML, XHTML and CSS: Visual QuickStart Guide, 6th Edition Elizabeth Castro. Peachpit Press, 2006. ISBN 0321430840 - this tutorial based guide will walk you step by step through the structure of html, building web pages and formatting them with css. an excellent book for beginners who need some hand-holding to learn the fundamentals.
if you happen across any other good books or websites on html, be sure to comment back here to share them with others.