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How to Escape < and > Inside <pre> Tags in HTML

When writing technical blog posts, especially those that include code snippets, it’s crucial to ensure that the syntax is displayed accurately. A common problem that arises is the inability of HTML to display angle brackets (< and >), often leading to confusion. In particular, using <pre> tags can result in these characters being stripped out by HTML, which sabotages the intended content of your post. In this blog, we’ll explore how to effectively escape < and > characters inside <pre> tags, so your code remains intact and readable.

The Problem: Lost Code Syntax

Imagine you’re trying to share a code example that uses generics in C#. You might have a code segment like this:

PrimeCalc calc = new PrimeCalc();
Func<int, int> del = calc.GetNextPrime;

If you wrap it in <pre> tags for better formatting in your HTML:

<pre>
PrimeCalc calc = new PrimeCalc();
Func<int, int> del = calc.GetNextPrime;
</pre>

You will end up with the following output, which doesn’t show the angle brackets at all:

PrimeCalc calc = new PrimeCalc();
Func del = calc.GetNextPrime;

This is because the < and > characters are interpreted as HTML tags rather than being displayed as part of the text.

The Solution: Escaping Characters

To ensure that your angle brackets appear as you intend, you need to escape them. In HTML, that means converting < to &lt; and > to &gt;. Here’s how you can format the code correctly using escaped characters within your <pre> tag.

Correctly Escaping in HTML

Instead of using the standard code, you will modify it as follows:

<pre>
    PrimeCalc calc = new PrimeCalc();
    Func&lt;int, int&gt; del = calc.GetNextPrime;
</pre>

Breakdown of Escaping

  • For <: Use &lt;
  • For >: Use &gt;

This way, your code snippet will be rendered correctly in browsers, making your blog post clear and maintaining the structure of your programming example.

Final Output

Here’s how the final code looks wrapped properly in HTML:

<pre><code> 
&lt;pre&gt;
    PrimeCalc calc = new PrimeCalc();
    Func&lt;int, int&gt; del = calc.GetNextPrime;
&lt;/pre&gt;
</code></pre>

Conclusion

By escaping < and > with &lt; and &gt;, respectively, you can effectively display your code segments inside <pre> tags without losing them to HTML parsing. This quick fix is essential for any technical writer or blogger looking to share accurate programming content. Next time you write a blog post that includes code snippets using angle brackets, don’t forget to apply these escaping techniques for flawless output.

Now you can confidently share your code!