HTML Button vs Link
Choose controls based on whether the action navigates or changes the current page.
What this solves
Use a button to run a calculation and a link to open another tool. This pattern is useful when the business question is clear but a generic tutorial is too abstract.
The rule
Links navigate; buttons perform actions.
<button type="button">Run</button>
<a href="/tools/">Browse tools</a>Real-work checklist
- Define the business key and expected grain before writing the formula, query or markup.
- Test the pattern on a small known sample where you can verify the answer manually.
- Check missing values, duplicates and data types before trusting a large result.
- Scale to the real file or database only after the logic is proven.
Common mistake
A clickable div has weaker keyboard and accessibility behavior unless you reimplement semantics.