HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) serve distinct but complementary roles in web development. HTML is the backbone of a webpage, providing the essential structure and defining the various elements such as headings, paragraphs, links, images, and videos. Think of it as the skeleton of a body, where every tag serves as a building block that organizes content in a meaningful way. In contrast, CSS is responsible for the look and feel of the webpage, enabling you to apply styles such as colors, fonts, spacing, and layout. This is akin to dressing that skeleton in a stylish outfit, allowing for differentiation and aesthetics that enhance user experience. By decorating the HTML structure with CSS, developers are able to convey branding and visual appeal effectively.

Communication between HTML and CSS occurs through selectors, which are used in CSS to target specific HTML elements. For instance, if you want to change the font color of all headings on your webpage, you’d use the selector for headings in your CSS file to apply the desired color. If your HTML structure is not properly organized—say, missing closing tags or incorrectly nested elements—this can indeed lead to issues where the intended styles don’t apply correctly or not at all. A common pitfall is neglecting the cascade effect of CSS where rules might override one another depending on their specificity, leading to unintended visual results. To work effectively with both, a key strategy is to maintain clear and semantic HTML while using well-organized and structured CSS, ensuring that styles are not only easy to read but also maintainable as projects grow. An example of this is using class or ID selectors to style specific elements, enabling targeted styling that won’t disrupt the entire layout.