![The first of the HTML elements beginning with b is [maniacally rifles through stack of coffee-stained scrawlings] the <b> element. Unlike the ch](https://heydonworks.com/images/unofficial.png "The b element: HeydonWorks")
The b element: HeydonWorks
The first of the HTML elements beginning with b is [maniacally rifles through stack of coffee-stained scrawlings] the <b> element. Unlike the chemical element Boron (also represented by a b), the <b> element is not a brittle, dark, lustrous metalloid. Nor is it synthesized entirely by cosmic ray spallation. For that matter, neither does it have three valence electrons for forming covalent bonds.
Truthfully, the list of differences between the chemical element Boron and the HTML element <b> is as long as my arm—and I’m some sort of gigantic, horrifying mantid, so that’s saying something. Frankly, I would love to list each of these differences in turn, if only to put off trying to set forth what the <b> element is actually for. Which is a bit tricky.
In HTML4 it was easy. The b stood for “bold” and the <b> element was used to make text go bold. If the chosen font family had a bold weight, that would be assigned. If a bold weight was absent, the browser would apply a faux-bold style, by wrapping the regular glyphs in an insulating layer of subcutaneous pixels.
