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HTML Entities

Imagine you're writing a special note to someone, but there are a few words or symbols that only have meaning if used in a certain way. In HTML, we have a similar situation with some characters.

What are HTML Entities?

HTML entities are special codes that represent characters in HTML. These characters might either have a special meaning in HTML (like the less-than < or greater-than > symbols) or might not easily be typed on a keyboard (like the copyright symbol ©).

Why Use HTML Entities?

  1. To Display Reserved Characters: In HTML, some characters are reserved, meaning they have special functions. For example, < starts a tag. If you want to show these characters on a webpage as-is, without them performing their special functions, you use HTML entities.

  2. Special Characters: Some characters or symbols are not readily available on your keyboard. HTML entities let you include these in your web pages.

How to Use HTML Entities

HTML entities usually start with an ampersand (&) and end with a semicolon (;). They can be expressed as named entities or numeric entities.

  1. Named Entities: These use a name to refer to a character. For example, to display less than symbol, you use &lt; (<).

  2. Numeric Entities: These use a number (in a specific code format called Unicode) to represent a character. The less than symbol can also be written as &#60;.

Common HTML Entities

  • Less Than: &lt; for <
  • Greater Than: &gt; for >
  • Ampersand: &amp; for &
  • Quotes: To represent double quotes (") use &quot; and for single quotes (') use &apos;.
  • Special Symbols: For example, the copyright symbol (©) can be represented as &copy;.

Example in Use

Imagine you're writing a guide on HTML and you want to include an example of a tag directly in your text. You can't just write <p> because the browser would interpret it as a paragraph tag and not display the text as you want. Instead, you would write it as &lt;p&gt; in your HTML code. When viewed in a web browser, it will correctly display <p>.

Conclusion

HTML entities are a crucial part of web development, allowing you to include a wide range of characters in your web pages that would otherwise be interpreted as code or are not directly accessible on your keyboard. By using HTML entities, you ensure your webpage displays exactly as you intend, with all the intended characters and symbols in place.

Remember, every time you encounter a special character that you want to display on your webpage, or you're aware that a character is reserved in HTML, look up its corresponding HTML entity. This way, you can communicate effectively and perfectly render your content.