An HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) tag is a type of code that is used to define and structure content on a web page or website. These tags are surrounded by angle brackets, such as <html> and </html>, which indicates the beginning and end of an HTML element.
HTML tags are essential for creating the layout and formatting of a web page. They provide information about the structure and content of a document to the browser, allowing it to render the page correctly. See Also Understanding HTML5 Compliance & Proper Page Structure For more efficient and code compliant HTML syntax.
Here is an example of an HTML tag:
<p>This is a paragraph.</p>In this example, the <p> tag defines a paragraph of text. The opening <p> tag tells the browser that the next line of code will start a new paragraph. The closing </p> tag indicates the end of the paragraph.
HTML tags are case-insensitive, but using lowercase for HTML tags is good practice.
HTML Tag Attributes
HTML tags can have attributes that provide additional information about the associated element. These attributes are added inside the opening HTML tag and are separated by spaces.
Here is an example of a <img> tag with attributes:
<img src="image.jpg" alt="Description of image" width="200" height="300">In this example, the ‘src’ attribute specifies the source of the image, the ‘alt’ attribute provides an alternative description of the image for users who cannot see it, and the ‘width’ and ‘height’ attributes specify the image’s dimensions.
Here are some common HTML tag attributes:
- src: Specifies the source of an external resource (e.g., an image or a script).
- href: Specifies the URL of a link.
- alt: Provides an alternative description of an image for users who cannot see it.
- title: Provides additional information about an element (e.g., a tooltip).
- class: Specifies one or more class names for an element.
- id: Specifies a unique identifier for an element.
- style: Specifies inline CSS styles for an element.
Conclusion
HTML tags are essential for creating the structure and layout of web pages. They provide the browser information about the page’s content, allowing it to render the page correctly. HTML tag attributes can be used to provide additional information about the element they are associated with.
