< is the Unicode character LESS-THAN SIGN, code point U+003C (decimal 60) in the Basic Latin block, added in Unicode 1.1. In HTML write <, and in UTF-8 it is the single byte 3C.
Codes
| Where | How to write it |
|---|---|
| Code point | U+003C |
| Decimal | 60 |
| UTF-8 bytes | 3C |
| UTF-16 (big-endian) | 003C |
| UTF-32 | 0000003C |
| HTML decimal | < |
| HTML hex | < |
| HTML named | < < |
| CSS | \3C |
| JavaScript | \u003C |
| JSON | \u003C |
| Python | \u003C |
| Python by name | \N{LESS-THAN SIGN} |
| Java, C# | \u003C |
| Rust, Swift | \u{3C} |
| Go, C, C++ | \u003C |
| URL (percent-encoded) | %3C |
JavaScript and JSON strings store text as UTF-16, so this character is one code unit long. Python 3 strings count code points, so its length there is 1.
Properties
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | LESS-THAN SIGN |
| Code point | U+003C (decimal 60) |
| Block | Basic Latin (U+0000–U+007F) |
| General category | Sm: Math symbol |
| Script | Common |
| Bidirectional class | ON: Other neutral |
| Mirrored in right-to-left text | Yes |
| First in Unicode version | 1.1 |
Nearby in Basic Latin
- 4 U+0034 Digit Four
- 5 U+0035 Digit Five
- 6 U+0036 Digit Six
- 7 U+0037 Digit Seven
- 8 U+0038 Digit Eight
- 9 U+0039 Digit Nine
- : U+003A Colon
- ; U+003B Semicolon
- = U+003D Equals Sign
- > U+003E Greater-Than Sign
- ? U+003F Question Mark
- @ U+0040 Commercial At
- A U+0041 Latin Capital Letter A
- B U+0042 Latin Capital Letter B
- C U+0043 Latin Capital Letter C
- D U+0044 Latin Capital Letter D
All 128 characters: Basic Latin.
Official reference
Questions people ask
- What is the HTML code for <?
- Use the named entity <, or < (decimal) or < (hex).
- What is the UTF-8 encoding of U+003C?
- 3C (hex), 1 byte. In a URL it is %3C.
- How do I write U+003C in JavaScript or Python?
- JavaScript: \u003C. Python: \u003C.
Source
Unicode Character Database 18.0.0 (Unicode License v3); HTML entity names from the WHATWG HTML Standard (CC BY 4.0). The encodings above are computed from the code point and checked against Python's encoders. How the character looks depends on your fonts.
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