HTML: What's the correct form of BR?

Question

How is correct to write the br tag in html?

or

or anyt

Answer 1

In HTML4.01 or earlier, it is <br>. This is case-insensitive, and whitespace between the r and the > is ignored.

In all forms of XHTML it is <br/>. This is case-sensitive, and again whitespace between the r and the /> is ignored. <br></br> is also allowed, but unusual (there are backwards-compatibility issues, it's extra typing, and allows for bugs if you introduce more content between the tags by mistake, but it does sometimes happen in XML-programattically produced code).

Since some earlier browsers that would parse XHTML as earlier HTML would choke on <br/> but not on <br /> such extra whitespace is the norm, for backwards compatibility (more backwards kludging it, but still...).

In HTML5 either are allowed (but not <br></br>).

Answer 2

It depends on the doctype you're using. In the original versions of HTML (up to HTML4), only <br> is correct. In XHTML (which is based on XML), only <br /> is correct. In HTML5, both are allowed although <br> is preferred.

Answer 3

@CIRK: HTML4, <br>. XHTML 1.x, <br />. <br/> is also acceptable.

Answer 4

It does not need an end tag, so

<br>

is correct for HTML, and

<br />

for XHTML.

Answer 5

In HTML (up to version 4) it's <br>And in XHTML it's <br /> because the tag has to be properly closed with an /

HTML5 <br> is the best option.

Answer 6

it is most formal to use <br/> this is then XHTML compliant - all opening tags have corresponding end tag.