The HTML <head> tag is a container element that is used to define the head section of an HTML document. The head section contains metadata, external resources, and other information about the web page that is not directly displayed to the user.
Here are some commonly used elements and their purposes within the <head> tag:
<title>: This element specifies the title of the web page, which is displayed in the browser's title bar or tab.
<meta>: The <meta> elements are used to provide metadata about the HTML document, such as character encoding, viewport settings for responsive design, description, keywords, author, and more.
<link>: The <link> element is used to reference external resources, such as stylesheets (CSS files), icon files (favicon), or other documents that are linked to the HTML document.
<style>: This element is used to define inline CSS styles within the HTML document. CSS rules written inside the <style> tags apply only to the elements on that particular web page.
<script>: The <script> element is used to include JavaScript code within the HTML document. It can be placed in the head section to load external JavaScript files or contain inline JavaScript code.
<base>: The <base> element specifies the base URL for all relative URLs within the HTML document. It is used to define the default URL or target for all links and resources.
The <head> section is not visible to users when they view the web page, but it plays a crucial role in providing essential information to web browsers, search engines, and other web-related services. It is responsible for setting the document's properties, defining external resources, and improving the accessibility, searchability, and overall user experience of the web page.
Here's an example of how the <head> tag is typically used:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>My Web Page</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="styles.css">
<script src="script.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
<!-- Content of the web page goes here -->
</body>
</html>
In the above example, the <head> section contains the <meta> tag for character encoding, the <title> tag for the page title, the <link> tag to reference an external stylesheet, and the <script> tag to include an external JavaScript file.