Is there any difference between drop down box and combo box?

Question

Is there any difference between drop down box and combo box [ HTML ]?

Actually the point is, everytime i say something like: "there is some problem with the combo box", my senior says: "that's not a combo box that is a drop down", :)

Answer 1

Technically, there are no combo boxes in HTML, because the <SELECT> can't be typed into. See the Wikipedia article on Combo Box (emphasis mine):

A combo box is a commonly-used graphical user interface widget. It is a combination of a drop-down list or list box and a single-line textbox, allowing the user to either type a value directly into the control or choose from the list of existing options.

While the definition of drop-down list matches exactly what the HTML <SELECT> element does:

When activated, it displays (drops down) a list of values, from which the user may select one.

So your senior is right.

Answer 2

I guess he is getting at the fact

• a combo box is a combination of an input text field and a list of options. You can type in stuff in the input field and the list should update to highlight a possible match
• a dropdown is just a list of options that drops down when you click on the arrow button. You can only choose from a list of predefined options