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Any good programmer knows, to write code, all you really need is a simple text editor. Now, by text editor, I mean one that saves your work as a pure ASCII (pronounced “askee”) or a “text-only” file: no formatting nor any fancy fonts. These editors come with your operating software (Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, XP as well as Macs), are easy to learn, easy to use, and I highly recommend using a text editor when first learning to write HTML. You'll find your level of HTML comprehension higher when you have to type everything in manually. Trust me on this.

If you have Windows (Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP or NT), Notepad comes bundled with your software and is the one I recommend that you begin with. Simply save your HTML document with an extension of .html (i.e. filename.html).

Mac users have TeachText (or SimpleText) to write their HTML documents with. Make sure that you save your HTML files with the extension of .html (i.e. filename.html). While on the subject of Macs and text editors, I highly recommend downloading BBEdit Lite. This is a wonderful little text editor, from Bare Bones Software, Inc., that's perfect for composing HTML files on the Mac. Best of all, it's free!

In general, any word processor can do the job. Most quality word processing software provides you with that added bonus of a spell checker! Just remember to save your work as a text-only file—very important!

NOTE!: Today, most word processors allow you to convert your documents to HTML with one simple click of the mouse. It's a far from perfect technique but can be a great “down and dirty” process to begin converting documents for the Web.

This may come as a surprise, but, if you've been paying attention, you already have the tools you need to begin work on your first web page! So, if you've got your text editor handy, you may want to jump right to the Workshops area and begin.