Text editor

The first thing you need to do is open a text editor. You shouldn't use a word processor like Microsoft Word for this. Text editors are different from word processors because they just display raw, plain text - you can't apply any styles like center-justification or font size. This is perfect for programming, where styles are meaningless and just get in the way.

If you're using a Mac, your computer comes with a text editor called TextEdit that's in your Applications folder. There's just one thing you need to change to make it work well for our purposes: open Preferences and switch Format from Rich text to Plain text. Then, if a new document window is open, close it and open a new one. Now you have a text editor!

If you're using Windows, your computer comes with a text editor called Notepad. To open it, click the Start menu, All Programs, Accessories, and then Notepad.

I prefer to use a text editor called Sublime Text. It has a lot of features that make programming easier. Sublime Text is free to try out, although it will bug you to buy a license (which costs $70). If you'd like, you can download and install it now.

Open up your text editor and save a new file called my-first-webpage.html. Notice the .html extension: that tells your computer this is an HTML file and should be opened with your web browser. When you save a file with the .html extension, you might get a warning from your text editor asking if you're sure you don't want to save it with the .txt extension. Tell it that yes, you are sure.

Now, double-click the file you just created (in Finder if you're on a Mac, or in Windows Explorer if you're on a PC) to open it in your web browser. You should have a blank page. Now you're ready to start writing your first HTML!

Summary

Free text editors:

Notepad (included with Windows) TextEdit (included with Macs) Professional text editor:

Sublime Text Costs $70, but free to try indefinitely