What is covalent bonding?

Answer 1

Covalent bonding occurs between 2 or more nonmetals where each element "shares" electrons in order to satisfy the octet rule when it comes to chemical bonding.

In comparison, ionic bonding occurs between a metal and a nonmetal where the metal transfers its valence electron(s) to the nonmetal resulting in the formation of metal cations (positively charged ions) and nonmetal anions (negatively charged ions).

Answer 2

Covalent bonding is when to atoms share their electrons to make a bond. If both electrons come from the same atom, then it is called a coordinate (dative) covalent bond.