It's HTML Doctype: What is it?

The HTML version that the page is using is indicated to the browser by DOCTYPE.
It aids in the proper display of the page by the browser.

👉 Doctype is a browser instruction, not an HTML tag.

 

🧠 Why Is Doctype Important?

  • 🌍 guarantees accurate rendering across all browsers

  • 🛑 Prevents unexpected layout problems, or "quirks mode."

  • ✅ Ensures that your page complies with web standards

Browsers may behave differently without Doctype 😵‍💫.

 

🏁 The most popular HTML5 Doctype

The HTML5 Doctype is used in contemporary websites:

<!DOCTYPE html>

📌 Put this at the top of your HTML file.
 


🏗️ HTML with Doctype Example <!DOCTYPE html>

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Doctype Example</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Hello HTML!</h1>
    <p>This page uses HTML5 Doctype.</p>
  </body>
</html>

This guarantees that standards mode is used by the browser.

 

🕰️ Older Doctype (For Knowledge Only)

Long Doctype declarations were present in earlier versions of HTML 😬

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN">

These are no longer necessary.
HTML5 maintains simplicity and cleanliness 👍

 

⚠️ Common Errors

  • ❌ Incorrectly writing Doctype in lowercase

  • ❌ Placing Doctype inside <html>

  • ❌ Completely forgetting Doctype

✅ Put it on the first line every time.

 

🎯 Important Things to Keep in Mind

  • Doctype instructs the browser on how to interpret HTML.

  • The HTML5 Doctype is brief and simple.

  • Include it in every HTML file at all times.

 

🚀 Last Advice

Start every new HTML file with Doctype 🧑‍💻.
It's a tiny line, but it has a lot of power 💥