whitespace

Whitespace is a term used in typography and computing to describe characters or spaces that create visual separation but are typically invisible in final rendering. It encompasses spaces, tabs, line breaks, and other non-printing characters that structure text and data.

Common whitespace characters include the space (U+0020), the tab (U+0009), the newline (U+000A) and carriage return (U+000D), and the non-breaking space (U+00A0). Unicode defines additional whitespace such as en space, em space, thin space, and zero-width space. Some control characters influence layout without displaying a visible symbol. The handling and interpretation of these characters vary by context and encoding.

In programming and data processing, whitespace may be meaningful or ignored. Some languages use indentation to denote blocks, while others treat whitespace as irrelevant. In HTML, consecutive whitespace is typically collapsed to a single space unless preformatted text is used. Tokenizers and compilers may trim, normalize, or preserve whitespace depending on the task, and certain tasks require special handling such as preserving line breaks or inserting guarantees of spacing.

In typography and design, whitespace (often called negative space) is an essential element that affects readability, balance, and aesthetics. It helps separate ideas, creates emphasis, and guides the reader’s eye. Good management of whitespace supports accessibility by ensuring adequate margins, line spacing, and legibility, while excessive crowding can hinder comprehension and navigation.