Tag xmp

📝 HTML <xmp> Tag — Displaying Preformatted Text (Obsolete)

The <xmp> tag was used in early HTML versions to display preformatted text, especially HTML or code, by showing it exactly as typed — including tags and whitespace — without interpreting the HTML inside.

📌 What Was the <xmp> Tag?

  • Stands for eXtensible Markup.
  • Renders enclosed text as plain text, escaping HTML tags inside.
  • Preserved whitespace and line breaks.
  • Simplified displaying code snippets before the <pre> and <code> tags became popular.
  • Obsolete and deprecated in modern HTML standards (HTML5).
  • Browsers no longer support it reliably.

✅ Basic Syntax (Historical)

<xmp>
<div>This will not be rendered as a div, but shown as text.</div>
</xmp>

This would display:

<div>This will not be rendered as a div, but shown as text.</div>

⚠️ Why Avoid <xmp> Today?

  • Deprecated and invalid in HTML5.
  • Causes parsing and rendering issues in modern browsers.
  • Does not support nested tags or attributes properly.
  • Lack of accessibility and semantic meaning.
  • Replaced by better, more semantic elements.

✅ Modern Alternatives

To display code or preformatted text today, use:

  • <pre> — preserves whitespace and line breaks.
  • <code> — indicates inline code or code snippets.
  • Combine <pre> and <code> for block code:
<pre><code>
<div>This is a code block displayed as text.</div>
</code></pre>
  • For escaping HTML characters inside code blocks, use character entities (&lt;, &gt;, etc.) or tools that automatically escape text.

🏁 Summary

The <xmp> tag is a deprecated HTML element once used for showing raw code or text but is no longer supported or recommended. Modern HTML favors semantic, accessible tags like <pre> and <code> for displaying code snippets and preformatted text.

🎯 Avoid <xmp> and use <pre> and <code> for proper, standards-compliant code presentation.