What are HTML elements?

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the standard markup language used to create web pages. At the core of HTML are elements, which are the building blocks of web content. In this tutorial, we’ll explore what HTML elements are, how they work, and how to use them to structure and format web content.

Section 1: What Are HTML Elements?

HTML elements are the fundamental units of an HTML document. They define the structure and content of a web page. An HTML element consists of a pair of tags, an opening tag, and a closing tag, with content enclosed between them.

For example, here’s a simple HTML element:

<p>This is a paragraph.</p>

In this example:

• <p> is the opening tag.
• </p> is the closing tag.
• “This is a paragraph.” is the content of the <p> element.

HTML elements can represent various types of content, such as text, images, links, headings, lists, and more.

Section 2: Anatomy of HTML Elements

Let’s break down the parts of an HTML element:

• Opening Tag: The opening tag marks the beginning of an element and consists of the element’s name enclosed in angle brackets. It can also include attributes that provide additional information about the element.
• Content: The content is the information or data contained within the element. It can be text, other elements, or a combination of both.
• Closing Tag: The closing tag marks the end of the element and is similar to the opening tag, but it includes a forward slash before the element name.

Section 3: Common HTML Elements

HTML offers a wide range of elements to structure and format web content. Here are some common HTML elements:

• <h1>, <h2>, <h3>, <h4>, <h5>, <h6>: Headings of various levels for organizing content hierarchically.
• <p>: Paragraphs for text content.
• <a>: Anchor tags for creating hyperlinks.
• <img>: Images for displaying graphics.
• <ul>, <ol>, <li>: Lists, both unordered and ordered.
• <div>: A generic container for grouping and styling content.
• <span>: A generic inline container for styling a portion of text.

Section 4: Nesting HTML Elements

HTML elements can be nested inside other elements. This nesting creates a hierarchical structure for organizing content. For example:

<div>
    <h1>Header</h1>
    <p>This is a paragraph.</p>
</div>

In this example, the <h1> and <p> elements are nested within the <div> element.

Section 5: Self-Closing Elements

Some HTML elements do not have a closing tag and are self-closing. They are written with a single tag. For example:

<img src="image.jpg" alt="An image">

In this case, <img> is a self-closing element used to display images.

Section 6: Validating HTML

It’s essential to write well-formed HTML. You can validate your HTML code using online validators or integrated development environments (IDEs) to ensure it follows the correct structure and syntax.