HTML for Web Development

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HTML Special Characters

HTML special characters are symbols and reserved characters that cannot be directly written in HTML because they have specific meanings (e.g., < is used to define tags). To display these characters on a webpage, you need to use their HTML entities. HTML entities start with an ampersand (&) and end with a semicolon (;).

Common HTML Special Characters

Below is a table of commonly used HTML special characters, their meanings, and examples.

CharacterDescriptionEntity CodeExample
<Less than sign&lt;2 &lt; 5 → 2 < 5
>Greater than sign&gt;5 &gt; 2 → 5 > 2
&Ampersand&amp;Tom &amp; Jerry → Tom & Jerry
"Double quotation mark&quot;"Hello" → "Hello"
'Single quotation mark&apos;'Hello' → 'Hello'
©Copyright symbol&copy;&copy; 2025 → © 2025
®Registered trademark symbol&reg;&reg; → ®
£Pound currency symbol&pound;&pound;100 → £100
¥Yen currency symbol&yen;&yen;500 → ¥500
€Euro currency symbol&euro;&euro;50 → €50
¢Cent symbol&cent;50&cent; → 50¢
§Section symbol&sect;&sect; 3 → § 3
±Plus-minus sign&plusmn;&plusmn;5 → ±5
×Multiplication sign&times;5 &times; 5 → 5 × 5
÷Division sign&divide;10 &divide; 2 → 10 ÷ 2
  (Space)Non-breaking space&nbsp;Hello&nbsp;World → Hello World

Examples of HTML Special Characters

Example 1: Displaying Reserved Characters

Reserved characters like < and > cannot be used directly in HTML because they are interpreted as tags. Use their HTML entities instead.

HTML
. . . .

Explanation:

  • < is replaced with &lt; to display it as a less-than symbol on the webpage.

Example 2: Using the Ampersand (&)

The ampersand (&) is a reserved character and must be represented using &amp;.

HTML
. . . .

Explanation:

  • & is represented as &amp; to prevent it from being misinterpreted as the start of another HTML entity.

Example 3: Currency Symbols

HTML entities can be used to display currency symbols like Pound, Euro, and Yen characters seamlessly.

HTML
. . . .

Explanation:

  • &pound;, &euro;, and &yen; are used to represent £, €, and ¥ respectively.

Example 4: Copyright and Trademark Symbols

Special characters like © and ® are commonly used for branding and legal text.

HTML
. . . .

Explanation:

  • &copy; displays the copyright symbol, and &reg; displays the registered trademark symbol.

Example 5: Using Non-Breaking Space

The &nbsp; entity is used to create extra spaces between words or to prevent line breaks.

HTML
. . . .

Explanation:

  • &nbsp; adds non-breaking spaces between "Hello" and "World".

Best Practices for Using Special Characters

  1. Use Entities for Reserved Characters:

    • Always use entities like &lt; for < and &gt; for > to avoid conflicts with HTML tags.

  2. Use Descriptive Entities:

    • Prefer descriptive entities (e.g., &copy; for ©) to improve code readability.

  3. Check Compatibility:

    • Ensure that the special characters are supported by all major browsers.

Mastering HTML special characters allows you to display complex symbols and reserved

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