I would like to ask for some simple examples showing the uses of <div> and <span>. I've seen them both used to mark a section of a page with an id or class, but I'm interested in knowing if there are times when one is preferred over the other.
13 Answers
divis a block elementspanis an inline element.
This means that to use them semantically, divs should be used to wrap sections of a document, while spans should be used to wrap small portions of text, images, etc.
For example:
<div>This a large main division, with <span>a small bit</span> of spanned text!</div>
Note that it is illegal to place a block-level element within an inline element, so:
<div>Some <span>text that <div>I want</div> to mark</span> up</div>
...is illegal.
EDIT: As of HTML5, some block elements can be placed inside of some inline elements. See the MDN reference here for a pretty clear listing. The above is still illegal, as <span> only accepts phrasing content, and <div> is flow content.
You asked for some concrete examples, so is one taken from my bowling website, BowlSK:
<div id="header">
<div id="userbar">
Hi there, <span class="username">Chris Marasti-Georg</span> |
<a href="/edit-profile.html">Profile</a> |
<a href="">Sign out</a>
</div>
<h1><a href="/">Bowl<span class="sk">SK</span></a></h1>
</div>
