Difference between span and div tag in HTML.
Table of contents
In HTML, both the div
and span
tags are used as container elements to group and format content on a web page, but they have different use cases and behave differently.
The div
tag is used to group and format larger sections of content on a page, such as paragraphs, images, headings, and other elements. The div
tag is a block-level element, which means that it takes up the full width of its container and starts on a new line. You can apply CSS styles to a div
element to change its appearance and behaviour.
The span
tag, on the other hand, is used to group and format smaller sections of content within a larger block of content, such as individual words, phrases, or even characters. The span
tag is an inline-level element, which means that it only takes up as much width as necessary and does not start on a new line. You can also apply CSS styles to a span
element to change its appearance and behaviour.
<div class="article">
<h1>Article Title</h1>
<p>This is the first paragraph of the article. It contains some text and <span class="highlight">a highlighted phrase</span>.</p>
<p>This is the second paragraph of the article.</p>
<img src="image.jpg" alt="An image related to the article">
</div>
In this example, the div element is used to group the entire article, while the span element highlights a specific phrase within a paragraph.
Span Tag | Div Tag |
Span is an inline-level element in HTML. | Div is a block-level element in HTML. |
The main purpose of the span tag is to apply styles to a specific portion of the text. | The main purpose of the div tag is to group large sections of HTML elements and apply styles to them. |
Span tags do not create a line break before or after the element. | Div tags create a line break before and after the element. |
Span tags are used to apply styles, such as color or font size, to small portions of text, such as a single word or phrase. | Div tags are used to group together a set of HTML elements and apply styles to them, such as setting a background color or defining a layout. |
Span tags are often used in conjunction with CSS to create more precise styling. | Div tags are often used to create a layout structure for a webpage. |
Span tags can be nested within other HTML elements. | Div tags can be nested within other HTML elements. |
The use of span tags does not affect the layout of the page. | The use of div tags can affect the layout of the page, as they create a block-level element that takes up space on the page. |
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Surya Prakash Singh
Surya Prakash Singh
A full stack developer from India. Html | Css | Javascript | React | Redux | Tailwind | Node | Express | Mongodb | Sql | Nosql | Socket.io