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Python Django Basics Django Templates Template Inheritance

Posted by Serdar Halac
Serdar Halac
15,259 Points

Why did layout.html have '<!doctype html>' at the top but course_list.html did not?

As the title says. Isn't it standard procedure to put <!doctype html> on ALL html files? Why did we previously not put it in the course_list.html file?

Here is the course_list.html code:

{% for course in courses %} <h2>{{ course.title }}</h2> {{ course.description }} {% endfor %}

And here is the layout.html code:

<!doctype html> <html> <head> <title>{% block title %}{% endblock %}</title> </head> <body> {% block content %}{% endblock %} </body> </html>

Why does one have the doctype line, and the other does not?

The weird thing is they both worked on the browser! So what gives?

1 Answer

Kieran Barker
Kieran Barker
15,028 Points
Kieran Barker
Kieran Barker
15,028 Points

I’m not sure why only one had the <!DOCTYPE html> declaration, but I can tell you why they both worked. As of HTML5, you don’t have to include it — although it is still best practice to do so. Nor do you have to include <body> (or <head>, I think) because it is just assumed. Another thing in HTML5, for example, is that you don’t have to close some elements. For instance, this would be valid in HTML5:

<p>No closing tag

I hope this helps!

Serdar Halac
Serdar Halac
15,259 Points

It does! Thank you for your answer. Did not know that about HTML5.