Do all websites use HTML?
No matter how complicated a website is, whether it’s the largest social media network, the biggest e-commerce platform, the largest video streaming platform, or a simple single static page, they all need and use HTML to display webpages to the user.
HTML is used in all existing websites on the internet, it is the most basic building block of the web. HTML allows you to define the structure and meaning of the content on a webpage using a set of rules.
All websites use HTML elements delineated by tags such as <div>, <img/>, <p>, <article>, <input/>, <title>, <section>, <audio>, <canvas>, etc. to organize a web page. Regardless of the complexity and size of a website, it will all boil down to HTML for presentation.
When a request is sent by the user to a web server, the web browser will receive an HTML document from the web server and render the document into a web page. That’s the underlying principle that every website uses.
There are many technologies and frameworks that make the process of serving data to web pages efficient and inexpensive but the ultimate goal is to render HTML documents to the web browser. HTML is at the core of every website. In the end, all websites use html to render web documents to the web browser.
CAN I BUILD A WEBSITE WITHOUT HTML AND CSS?
You can build a website without knowing HTML and CSS using a website builder. There are many platforms that can help you to build a website without writing any line of code. You can build an e-commerce website, a blog, a business website, a social media site, a membership site, a news site, and more.
Even though you do not need to know HTML and CSS to use website builders, website builder software still uses html for the structure of the website and CSS for styling the website. HTML is still needed to build any website and CSS is needed to make a website beautiful.
I must emphasize that you can still make a website using website builders without any knowledge HTML and CSS, but the actual website will still have HTML, CSS, and other technologies and programming languages.
You can use any of the following platforms to make a website without any coding knowledge or skill;
WORDPRESS
WordPress is an open-source Content Management System, it is powerful and secure, a lot of big publishing websites use it. You can make different types of websites such as E-commerce (WooCommerce), Blogs, Forums, Membership sites, news sites, video sites, and more.
Getting started with WordPress is easy and straightforward. All you need is a domain and hosting, then you can install WordPress on it and you will be good to go. You can get hosting with Inmotion which comes with a free domain and a one-click WordPress install.
if you want to make an E-commerce website and sell your products online, Shopify is one of the best platforms to make your online store without any coding knowledge. Shopify does all the heavy lifting for you so that you can focus on growing your business. It is easy to set up and work with.
You can start a free trial to see how it works.
WIX
Wix is another great platform that you can use to make a website without any coding skills. It is easy to use and has a drag and drop feature to organize your website to your liking.
Other platforms you can use include Squarespace, Weebly, BigCommerce, Duda, GoDaddy, Bubble, etc. All these platforms will help you to build a beautiful and easy-to-maintain website with a lot of functionality without writing HTML, CSS, or Javascript.
CAN A WEBSITE RUN WITHOUT HTML?
With our current web standards, a website cannot run without HTML, all websites need html to render the web documents to the browser. The entire structure of a web page is defined using html. Whatever framework or platform you can use to make a website, the end result will be html elements served as a web page to the browser.
Actually, without html, there cannot be a website, there will be nothing to run, a web browser will not understand what to run or process. You will not be able to add styling or any form of dynamic functionality. You can’t do anything or produce any webpage if html is not present.
It is safe to say that there are currently no html alternatives for building websites. There have been attempts to make alternatives but most of them are either defunct or have received no attention whatsoever from web developers.
In the final analysis, all websites need HTML to run.
WILL HTML BE REPLACED?
HTML is currently the standard markup language for webpages and it will be for a very long time. Replacing HTML will mean a whole new set of technologies must be adopted and used in places where html was used.
The amount of re-education, browser compatibility, and technology change that need to be implemented are so enormous that it would take a lot of time and resources to adapt. This makes html irreplaceable at least for a very long time.
Plus, html keeps getting upgraded and it will keep getting better with time. The HTML that was 20 years ago is not the same as the one we have today, it has become better and more beautiful. And the more it gets better, the harder it will be to replace it.
The future is always uncertain, perhaps some new technology may emerge that will allow web developers to write and build websites without using html, but as it stands, html remains the irreplaceable standard.
The current standard of html can also be used to create mobile apps with frameworks like Cordova, Ionic, Onsen UI, etc. this further adds to the value that html gives to its users, making it even harder to replace it. You can learn more about making apps with HTML and CSS in our article HERE.
CONCLUSION
All websites on the world wide web use html to for the structure of the webpage. Html is at the core of the very technologies that power every website such that, there would not be a website without html. Whatever kind and size of a website you want to build or whichever technology, framework, or library you choose, eventually, it will all boil down to html for structure, CSS for styling and Javascript for interactivity and dynamics.