Any bond between two elements has a certain covalent character or some ionic character. When the ionic character is much greater, the compound is said to be ionic and vice versa. An example of an ionic compound is common salt or NaCl while diamond is a covalent compound formed by carbon atoms which are sp3 hybridised. When covalent character is high, electrons mostly occupy the bonding orbital between the two nuclei. The electrons are said to be more in a "shared" state. In ionic compounds like NaCl , Na almost gives its electron due to high metallic character and Cl almost accepts due to high electronegativity. In such case, much +ve charge is found on Na while high −ve charge is found on chlorine. In diamond, however no charge is found on carbon(although in a molecule like HCl, δ− charge is found on Cl and δ+ on H due to electronegativity differenece).
