HTML Path

Basics

HTML Entities

Using HTML Entities

HTML entities like & and < encode special characters for display.

Introduction to HTML Entities

HTML entities are a way to display reserved characters in HTML. For example, to display a less-than sign (<) or an ampersand (&) in HTML, you need to use specific codes, called entities, because these characters have special meanings in HTML.

Common HTML Entities

  • &nbsp;: Represents a non-breaking space.
  • &lt;: Represents the less-than sign (<).
  • &gt;: Represents the greater-than sign (>).
  • &amp;: Represents the ampersand (&).
  • &quot;: Represents double quotation marks (").
  • &apos;: Represents single quotation marks (').

Why Use HTML Entities?

HTML entities are crucial for ensuring that special characters are displayed correctly on a web page. Using entities prevents the browser from interpreting them as HTML code. For instance, if you need to display an example code snippet containing the less-than sign, you would use &lt; to ensure it renders as text rather than being interpreted as the start of an HTML tag.

Using HTML Entities in Code

When writing HTML, you can include entities directly in the text. Here is an example of how to use HTML entities in your code:

Named vs. Numeric Entities

HTML entities can be specified using either a named reference (e.g., &lt;) or a numeric reference. Numeric references can be either decimal (e.g., &#60;) or hexadecimal (e.g., &#x3C;). Both methods will render the character in the same way.

Conclusion

Understanding and using HTML entities is essential for web developers to ensure that special characters display correctly in web pages, without interfering with HTML syntax. By utilizing HTML entities, you can maintain the integrity of your HTML documents while also enhancing their functionality.

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