UI Design: The functional differences between buttons and links

The distinction between user interface links and buttons remains a point of discussion in web design, recently highlighted by debates within Twitter.

Links are interactive elements primarily used to navigate to different documents, files, or specific sections within a page. They allow for browser-specific actions such as opening targets in new tabs or viewing destinations in a status bar.

In contrast, buttons are designed to perform actions. While traditionally used for form submissions, modern HTML allows buttons to trigger various site functionalities, such as operating a calculator, expanding navigation, or showing and hiding content, often through the use of JavaScript.