The HTML <form> element is a fundamental building block for creating interactive forms on a web page. It serves as a container for all the form elements. Let's explore an example of a basic form:

Note

All examples include the onsubmit="return false" attribute to prevent the default form submission behavior. This way, the focus remains on understanding form creation and attributes.

Explanation of the form attributes:

• name provides a distinct identifier for the form on a webpage. Both the server and client use this identifier to process the form data. The form name may include numbers, underscores, dashes, and English alphabet characters, but it must not contain any spaces;
• autocomplete determines whether web browsers can fill out form fields automatically. It can be set to "on" or "off" and applied to individual form elements;
• novalidate specifies that browsers should not perform form field validation. This can be useful when you want to handle validation manually using JavaScript;
• method specifies the HTTP method used to send the form data to the server. The two most common methods are GET and POST. This topic will be covered in-depth in the JavaScript course.

Overview of Child Elements within a Form

Inside the form element, you'll find various child elements that are essential for form functionality. The input element allows users to enter different data types, such as text, numbers, and dates. In this example, the type="email" is used for the email field and type="password" for the password field. The label element organizes and structures the form, providing descriptive text for input fields and helping users understand their purposes. The button element with type="submit" is used to submit the form data to the server when clicked. By default, submitting the form reloads the webpage, but this behavior can be customized using JavaScript.