In this article, we’ll be differentiating the two tags: <datalist> and <select> tag. Generally, both the tags are used for choosing an option from the given list. But the main difference between both is that in the <datalist> tag the user can enter its own input and add that as an option with the help of the <input> element whereas the <select> tag doesn’t provide this feature.
HTML <datalist> tag: This tag specifies the predefined options for an <input> element. This tag also gives the autocomplete feature for the <input> element of HTML. Like once the user starts typing the input element of <datalist> tag, the user will see the pre-defined options starting with the letter or word typed by the user. Note that to use the <datalist> tag, the id of the tag must be the same as of the <input> element attribute.
Syntax:
<datalist id="courses">
<option value="DSA">
<option value="ML and AI">
</datalist>
Example: In this example, we will see the use of <datalist>
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<h1>GeeksforGeeks</h1>
<h3>Using Datalist</h3>
<label for="courses">
Choose your favorite course from the list:
</label>
<input list="courses" name="course" id="course">
<datalist id="courses">
<option value="Java">
<option value="C++">
<option value="Python">
<option value="DSA">
<option value="ML and AI">
</datalist>
<p style="color: gray;">
User can choose an option from a
given options <br>and also give
an input and filter values from
the option list.
</p>
</body>
</html>
|
Output:
HTML <select> tag: This tag creates a drop-down menu list in a webpage that is mostly used in the online forms that we all use for collecting the user input. The <select> tag contains <option> tag to display the list of available options from the drop-down list. The tag has various attributes that include <name>, <autofocus>, etc.
Syntax:
<select id="courses">
<option value="Java">Java</option>
<option value="C++">C++</option>
</select>
Example: In this example, we will see the use of <select> tag
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<h1>GeeksforGeeks</h1>
<h3>Using Select</h3>
<label for="courses">
Choose your favorite
course from the list:
</label>
<select id="courses">
<option value="Java">Java</option>
<option value="C++">C++</option>
<option value="Python">Python</option>
<option value="DSA">DSA</option>
<option value="ML and AI">ML and AI</option>
</select>
<p style="color: gray;">
User has to choose any
one option from a list.
</p>
</body>
</html>
|
Output:
Differences Between <datalist> and <select> tag
|
<select> tag
|
<datalist> tag
|
| The user can choose only one option from the given list. |
The user can choose any option from the given list but can also use its own input. |
| This tag is a form input type. |
This tag is not a form input type. |
| The user has to scan a long list so as to select an option. |
The user can easily input the option and get the hints and then can be chosen by the user. |
| The user can be restricted to a list of options. |
The user is not restricted by the list of options. |
| It doesn’t provide the auto-complete feature. |
It provides the auto-complete feature. |
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Last Updated :
09 May, 2023
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