What is an attribute in HTML?

An attribute in HTML is an additional characteristic of a tag that specifies exactly how an element should look, work, or behave.

If a tag is "what this is", then an attribute is "what it is like, where it is, what it does".

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#Example

Here:

• <img> is the image tag,
• src="photo.jpg" is the path to the image file,
• alt="My photo" is the alternative text if the image fails to load,
• width="300" is the width of the image in pixels.

Everything that goes inside the opening tag after its name is an attribute.

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#The structure of an attribute

An attribute consists of three parts:

Example:

• attribute name: href
• value: "https://example.com"

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#Where attributes are written

Attributes are always specified inside the opening tag:

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#There are different types of attributes

#1. Standard (global)

Can be added to almost any tag:

• id is a unique identifier of the element;
• class is a class name for applying styles;
• style is inline styling;
• title is a tooltip.

Example:

#2. Specific (depend on the tag)

Some attributes only apply to certain tags:

• src, alt, width, height for <img>;
• href, target for <a>;
• type, value, placeholder for <input>.

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#Attributes without a value

Sometimes just the presence of an attribute is enough:

Here checked means the checkbox is checked by default.

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#Summary:

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In simple terms: An attribute is an addition to a tag that explains to the browser exactly which element to show and how it should work. Without attributes, the page would look the same everywhere, without individual settings.