Balise

A balise, in the context of computer science, specifically web development and markup languages like HTML and XML, refers to a tag or element used to define the structure and content of a document. It is derived from the French word for "marker" or "beacon."

In HTML, balises (or tags) are enclosed in angle brackets (< and >) and typically come in pairs: an opening tag and a closing tag. The opening tag marks the beginning of an element, while the closing tag, which includes a forward slash (/) before the tag name, marks the end. For example, <h1> is an opening tag for a level-one heading, and </h1> is its corresponding closing tag. The content between these tags is rendered as a level-one heading in a web browser.

Some balises, often referred to as self-closing tags or empty elements, do not require a closing tag. Examples include <br> (line break) and <img> (image). These tags perform their function directly without containing any content.

The term "balise" is essentially synonymous with "tag" or "element" in most English-speaking contexts within web development. While "balise" might be used in specific documentation or by speakers of other languages, "tag" and "element" are far more common within the English-speaking web development community.

In XML, the term carries a similar meaning, defining the structure and data within an XML document. XML elements, marked by their balises, are used to create a hierarchical data structure.