HTML DIV Basics
By Stephen Bucaro
An html div is a block-level element that defines a horizontal section of a webpage.
A block level element has an embedded carriage return before and after the element.
A <div> is similar to a paragraph <p> element, except that paragraph
elements have a semantic meaning that they should be used to create blocks of text,
while a div is a generic box that is commonly used for layout purposes.
In the code shown below, I've defined two paragraphs above two divs. Note that the
default margin for paragraphs is the height of the font, while the default margin
for the divs is zero.
<p style="border-style:solid;">Being able to factor numbers is an important skill,
one that will be necessary later on to work with fractions and polynomials.</p>
<p style="border-style:solid;">Being able to factor numbers is an important skill,
one that will be necessary later on to work with fractions and polynomials.</p>
<div style="border-style:solid;">Being able to factor numbers is an important skill,
one that will be necessary later on to work with fractions and polynomials.</div>
<div style="border-style:solid;">Being able to factor numbers is an important skill,
one that will be necessary later on to work with fractions and polynomials.</div>
Being able to factor numbers is an important skill,
one that will be necessary later on to work with fractions and polynomials.
Being able to factor numbers is an important skill,
one that will be necessary later on to work with fractions and polynomials.
Being able to factor numbers is an important skill,
one that will be necessary later on to work with fractions and polynomials.
Being able to factor numbers is an important skill,
one that will be necessary later on to work with fractions and polynomials.
The div element has few html attributes. The align attribute specifies
the alignment of the content inside a div element. Possible values are; left, right,
center, or justify. However, this attribute is deprecated and styles should be used instead.
Divs make heavy use of styles, so Without knowledge of CSS, you'll have have a
difficult time with all but the most basic use of divs. Even with good knowledge
of CSS, because box model styles are inconsistent between browsers and browser
versions, you'll have a difficult time using divs for page layout. It requires many
work-arounds to get them to display constantly.
However, using styles, a div can be given a specific width and height
and changed to an inline box which makes it the best element to use for complex
webpage layouts. Especially useful for webpage layout is the ability to nest divs as
in the code shown below.
<div style="border-style:solid; border-color:red; width:450px; padding:4px;">
<div style="border-style:solid; border-color:blue; width:200px; display:inline;">
Nested block</div>
<div style="border-style:solid; border-color:green; width:200px; display:inline;">
Nested block</div>
</div>
Nested block
Nested block
Another important styles concept to understand is that vertical margins collapse
between adjacent elements. In other words, for adjacent vertical block-level
elements, only the margin of the element with the largest margin value will be
displayed. The margin of the element with the smaller margin value will be collapsed
to zero. In order to become more skilled in the use of divs you should study
the CSS box model.
More HTML Code:
• Webpage DOCTYPE Declarations Explained
• HTML Horizontal Rule
• Web Color Names Table
•
• Add an Image to a Web Page
• Divide a Table Into Head (thead), Body (tbody), and Footer (tfoot) Sections
• HTML Blockquote Basics
• Text Input Box Basics
• HTML dfn Tag
• HTML Textarea Basics
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