What is the difference between an image tag and an img tag in HTML? Which one should be used when there's no link involved?

 In HTML, the <img> tag is used to embed images in a web page. The <img> tag is a self-closing tag, which means it does not have a closing tag. The src attribute is used to specify the URL of the image file, and the alt attribute is used to provide alternative text for the image, which is displayed if the image cannot be loaded.

The <image> tag is not a standard HTML tag, it is not supported by all web browsers and it is not recommended to use it.

When there's no link involved, you should use the <img> tag to embed an image in a web page. Example:

<img src="image.jpg" alt="Image">

This will display the image in the web page and if the image cannot be loaded, the text "Image" will be displayed as a placeholder.

It's worth noting that in HTML5, the <img> tag has been updated to include additional attributes such as srcset and sizes to support responsive images and loading to control the loading behavior of the image.