Description of Section and Article elements

HTML-CSS
1

So this is just a matter of clarification. I’ve been working on the HTML/CSS module for the past couple of weeks and am really enjoying the experience so far. I think most of the concepts, when first introduced, are thoroughly explained and then applied in subsequent lessons. But re-reading the “Learn Applied Accessibility: Wrap Content in the article Element” lesson, this paragraph is confusing me:

The section element is also new with HTML5, and has a slightly different semantic meaning than article . An article is for standalone content, and a section is for grouping thematically related content. They can be used within each other, as needed. For example, if a book is the article , then each chapter is a section . When there’s no relationship between groups of content, then use a div .

So how should I be parsing this? I feel like a book is better described as a section because you’re grouping chapters, which are articles that “stand alone.” Right? Can someone help? Haha

2

No, books are divided into sections, which are normally called chapters. You don’t generally call a book an “article”, but it’s what it is in this slightly strained analogy. A news report or an essay in a newspaper is a more obvious example, because the terminology is the same: an article would be divided into sections.

3

Well I don’t think it’s more obvious as much as it is more appropriate. Thanks for the reply.

4

There’s no reason why sections can’t contain articles btw (which can then have sections, maybe with articles in!), just to complicate things

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