<code>: The Inline Code element

The <code> HTML element displays its contents styled in a fashion intended to indicate that the text is a short fragment of computer code. By default, the content text is displayed using the user agent's default monospace font.

Try it

Attributes

This element only includes the global attributes.

Examples

A paragraph of text that includes <code>:

html

<p>
  The function <code>selectAll()</code> highlights all the text in the input
  field so the user can, for example, copy or delete the text.
</p>

Result

Notes

To represent multiple lines of code, wrap the <code> element within a <pre> element. The <code> element by itself only represents a single phrase of code or line of code.

A CSS rule can be defined for the code selector to override the browser's default font face. Preferences set by the user might take precedence over the specified CSS.

Technical summary

Content categories Flow content, phrasing content, palpable content.
Permitted content Phrasing content.
Tag omission None, both the starting and ending tag are mandatory.
Permitted parents Any element that accepts phrasing content.
Implicit ARIA role No corresponding role
Permitted ARIA roles Any
DOM interface HTMLElement Up to Gecko 1.9.2 (Firefox 4) inclusive, Firefox implements the HTMLSpanElement interface for this element.

Specifications

Specification
HTML Standard
# the-code-element

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also