---
title: 'HTML'
sidebar_label: Introduction
description: 'The procedural macro for generating HTML and SVG'
slug: /concepts/html
---

import Tabs from '@theme/Tabs'
import TabItem from '@theme/TabItem'

The `html!` macro allows you to write HTML and SVG code declaratively. It is similar to JSX
(an extension to JavaScript that allows you to write HTML-like code inside of JavaScript).

**Important notes**

1. The `html!` macro only accepts one root html node (you can counteract this by using
   [fragments](./fragments.mdx) or [iterators](./../html/lists.mdx))
2. An empty `html! {}` invocation is valid and will not render anything
3. Literals must always be quoted and wrapped in braces: `html! { <p>{ "Hello, World" }</p> }`
4. The `html!` macro will make all tag names lowercase. To use upper case characters (which are required for some SVG elements) use [dynamic tag names](concepts/html/elements.mdx#dynamic-tag-names): `html! { <@{"myTag"}></@> }`

:::note
The `html!` macro can reach the default recursion limit of the compiler. If you encounter compilation errors,
add an attribute like `#![recursion_limit="1024"]` in the crate root to overcome the problem.
:::

## Tag Structure

Tags are based on HTML tags. Components, Elements, and Lists are all based on this tag syntax.

Tags must either self-close `<... />` or have a corresponding end tag for each start tag.

<Tabs>
  <TabItem value="Open - Close" label="Open - Close" default>

```rust
use yew::prelude::*;

html! {
  <div id="my_div"></div>
};
```

  </TabItem>
  <TabItem value="Invalid" label="Invalid">

```rust ,compile_fail
use yew::prelude::*;

html! {
  <div id="my_div"> // <- MISSING CLOSE TAG
};
```

  </TabItem>
</Tabs>

<Tabs>
  <TabItem value="Self-closing" label="Self-closing">

```rust
use yew::prelude::*;

html! {
  <input id="my_input" />
};
```

  </TabItem>
  <TabItem value="Invalid" label="Invalid">

```rust ,compile_fail
use yew::prelude::*;

html! {
  <input id="my_input"> // <- MISSING SELF-CLOSE
};
```

  </TabItem>
</Tabs>

:::tip
For convenience, elements which _usually_ require a closing tag are **allowed** to self-close. For example, writing `html! { <div class="placeholder" /> }` is valid.
:::

## Children

Create complex nested HTML and SVG layouts with ease:

<Tabs>
  <TabItem value="HTML" label="HTML">

```rust
use yew::prelude::*;

html! {
    <div>
        <div data-key="abc"></div>
        <div class="parent">
            <span class="child" value="anything"></span>
            <label for="first-name">{ "First Name" }</label>
            <input type="text" id="first-name" value="placeholder" />
            <input type="checkbox" checked=true />
            <textarea value="write a story" />
            <select name="status">
                <option selected=true disabled=false value="">{ "Selected" }</option>
                <option selected=false disabled=true value="">{ "Unselected" }</option>
            </select>
        </div>
    </div>
};
```

  </TabItem>
  <TabItem value="SVG" label="SVG">

```rust
use yew::prelude::*;

html! {
    <svg width="149" height="147" viewBox="0 0 149 147" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
        <path d="M60.5776 13.8268L51.8673 42.6431L77.7475 37.331L60.5776 13.8268Z" fill="#DEB819"/>
        <path d="M108.361 94.9937L138.708 90.686L115.342 69.8642" stroke="black" stroke-width="4" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round"/>
        <g filter="url(#filter0_d)">
            <circle cx="75.3326" cy="73.4918" r="55" fill="#FDD630"/>
            <circle cx="75.3326" cy="73.4918" r="52.5" stroke="black" stroke-width="5"/>
        </g>
        <circle cx="71" cy="99" r="5" fill="white" fill-opacity="0.75" stroke="black" stroke-width="3"/>
        <defs>
            <filter id="filter0_d" x="16.3326" y="18.4918" width="118" height="118" filterUnits="userSpaceOnUse" color-interpolation-filters="sRGB">
                <@{"feGaussianBlur"} stdDeviation="2"/>
                <@{"feColorMatrix"} in="SourceAlpha" type="matrix" values="0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 127 0"/>
            </filter>
        </defs>
    </svg>
};
```

  </TabItem>
</Tabs>

## Lints

If you compile Yew using a nightly version of the Rust compiler, the macro will warn you about some
common pitfalls that you might run into. Of course, you may need to use the stable compiler (e.g.
your organization might have a policy mandating it) for release builds, but even if you're using a
stable toolchain, running `cargo +nightly check` might flag some ways that you could improve your
HTML code.

At the moment the lints are mostly accessibility-related. If you have ideas for lints, please feel
free to [chime in on this issue](https://github.com/yewstack/yew/issues/1334).

## Specifying attributes and properties

Attributes are set on elements in the same way as in normal HTML:

```rust
use yew::prelude::*;

let value = "something";
html! { <div attribute={value} /> };
```

Properties are specified with `~` before the element name:

```rust , ignore
use yew::prelude::*;

html! { <my-element ~property="abc" /> };
```

:::tip

The braces around the value can be ommited if the value is a literal.

:::

:::note What classifies as a literal

Literals are all valid [literal expressions](https://doc.rust-lang.org/reference/expressions/literal-expr.html)
in Rust. Note that [negative numbers are **not** literals](https://users.rust-lang.org/t/why-are-negative-value-literals-expressions/43333)
and thus must be enclosed in curly-braces `{-6}`

:::

:::note Component properties
Component properties are passed as Rust objects and are different from the element attributes/properties described here.
Read more about them at [Component Properties](../function-components/properties.mdx)
:::

### Special properties

There are special properties which don't directly influence the DOM but instead act as instructions to Yew's virtual DOM.
Currently, there are two such special props: `ref` and `key`.

`ref` allows you to access and manipulate the underlying DOM node directly. See [Refs](../function-components/node-refs.mdx) for more details.

`key` on the other hand gives an element a unique identifier which Yew can use for optimization purposes.

:::info
Read more at [Lists](./html/lists)
:::

## Comments

It is also possible to use Rust style comments as part of the HTML structure:

```rust
use yew::prelude::*;

html! {
  <>
    <h1>{ "My heading" }</h1>
    // here comes the content
    <main>
      { "…" }
    </main>
  </>
};
```

Comments will be dropped during the parsing process and will not end up in the final output.

## Conditional Rendering

Markup can be rendered conditionally by using Rust's conditional structures. ' +
'Currently only `if` and `if let` are supported.

```rust
use yew::prelude::*;

html! {
  if true {
      <p>{ "True case" }</p>
  }
};
```

:::info
Read more at [Conditional Rendering](./conditional-rendering.mdx)
:::