Is using without enclosing tags dangerous? [closed]

Answer 1

Most browsers will probably take that and run with it, but there are two different list-types avaiable: Unordered <ul> and ordered lists <ol>, where an ordered list has numbers for each item.

Instead of using <li> tags, you could use a "•" bullet character (&bull;), and then a <br /> at the end of each line.

Answer 2

As a web designer/developer you know you're way off when you start writing HTML that even Frontpage or Microsoft Word wouldn't generate.

Adhering to standards is a two-way street. If we want browser developers to create fast, reliable and consistent rendering engines we need to meet them half-way by creating consistent, clean and well-formed HTML.

Answer 3

Dangerous? It won't blow anything up. It may cause issues if the layout is in any way important to you.

You just won't know how the browser will render it.

Answer 4

Using invalid markup like your example can cause unexpected behavior in different pages. If you use valid markup, browsers will (or should) display your content based on the spec. But if you use invalid markup, the browser will try and interperet the markup and display the page how it thinks you meant it to be. Sometimes they will display it how you want, sometimes not. Here's an example from Firefox 3.5 on a Mac.

The first list is your code, but with the proper <ul> tag replacing the <div> tag. The second list is your code exactly. Notice that the second list is missing the default margins on the left and bullets.

Basically, nothing will die if you use invalid markup like this, but it's really bad practice since it will lead to unexpected and inconsistent results.

Answer 5

I cant really imagine why you wouldnt want to put the <ul> or <ol> tags in, they define the list. You then have control on how the list is displayed, not leaving it for the browser to decide, which is important. Missing them out is just writing invalid markup, yeah it will work in some browsers, but id definitely keep them in.

Answer 6

I wouldn't rely on unspecified behaviour. Just replace that <div> by <ul> and use CSS to style it.