In HTML, special characters are symbols or entities that are not part of the standard keyboard character set or have a reserved meaning in HTML itself. These characters are often referred to as "HTML entities" or "escape characters" because they allow you to display special symbols or reserved characters in a web page.
Understanding how to use special characters in HTML is essential for web developers, as certain characters need to be represented using their entity name or number to avoid errors or unintended behavior in the code.
This chapter will cover everything from basic to advanced topics related to special characters in HTML. You’ll learn what special characters are, how to use them, the various types of HTML entities, and explore examples of how to include them in your web pages.
In HTML, special characters (or HTML entities) are used to represent characters that either cannot be typed directly from a keyboard or have a reserved purpose in HTML. For instance, characters like <
, >
, and &
have specific meanings in HTML code. If you were to use these characters directly in a webpage, they might be interpreted incorrectly by the browser.
To represent these characters in a way that the browser can understand, we use special codes or HTML entities. These entities are either named or numerical codes that translate into the character when rendered by the browser.
For example:
<
(less than) becomes <
>
(greater than) becomes >
&
(ampersand) becomes &
HTML special characters allow you to display symbols, reserved HTML characters, and accented letters properly in web pages.
Special characters are necessary for the following reasons:
<
, >
, and &
are part of the HTML syntax. Using them directly in your content might confuse the browser, making it think you’re defining an HTML tag or attribute.HTML entities can be represented in two forms:
These are a set of predefined names for characters. Named entities are easier to remember because they describe the symbol they represent.
For example:
<
for <
>
for >
&
for &
Numeric entities can be represented using a decimal or hexadecimal value. These are based on the Unicode or ASCII value of the character.
<
for <
<
for <
Both named and numeric entities produce the same result when rendered by the browser.
Special Characters in HTML
Named entity for less than: <
Numeric entity for less than: <
Named entity for less than: <
Numeric entity for less than: <
Here is a table of some commonly used HTML special characters:
Character | Entity Name | Entity Number |
---|---|---|
< | < | < |
> | > | > |
& | & | & |
" | " | " |
' | ' | ' |
These are the most frequently used entities, especially when writing HTML code, since these characters have special meanings in HTML.
When writing HTML code, special characters must be used for certain symbols. For example, if you try to use a <
symbol to represent “less than” directly in HTML, the browser will interpret it as the beginning of a tag. Instead, you should use <
to represent the less than symbol.
Using Special Characters
The less-than symbol is written as < in HTML.
The less-than symbol is written as < in HTML.
Reserved HTML symbols like <
, >
, and &
are used in HTML syntax. To display them as text rather than as part of the markup, you must use their respective entity.
<
becomes <
>
becomes >
&
becomes &
"
becomes "
Reserved Symbols
Use < and > for less than and greater than symbols.
Use < and > for less than and greater than symbols.
HTML supports a variety of mathematical symbols using special characters. These are useful when writing equations or displaying numeric data.
Symbol | Entity Name | Entity Number |
---|---|---|
± | ± | ± |
× | × | × |
÷ | ÷ | ÷ |
√ | √ | √ |
HTML provides special characters for displaying currency symbols as well. These symbols are critical for financial and ecommerce websites.
Currency | Symbol | Entity Name | Entity Number |
---|---|---|---|
Dollar | $ | $ | $ |
Euro | € | € | € |
Pound | £ | £ | £ |
Yen | ¥ | ¥ | ¥ |
Special characters in HTML are essential for displaying reserved symbols, foreign characters, mathematical symbols, and more. By using HTML entities, you can ensure your content is properly rendered across all browsers. Whether you're writing a simple web page or handling complex data involving symbols, understanding and using HTML special characters is critical for producing well-formed and readable content. Happy coding !❤️