Bonds formed between non-metals are generally covalent bonds.
Ionic bonds can ONLY be formed with a cation and an anion. Generally, these ions come from a metal (cation) and a non-metal (anion), but you should also include polyatomic ions, e.g.
I am using "cations" and "anions" to refer to the components in the compound. It does not necessarily have to be .
This is because electrons get transferred from the anion to the cation. This transfer results in a strong bond between the atoms and tend to result in properties such as high melting point and a high boiling temperature.
You can determine an ionic compound by calculating its electronegativity (between bonded atoms) -
Covalent bonds occur when components in the compound share their electrons.
"Unlike ionic bonds, covalent bonds are often formed between atoms where one of the atoms cannot easily attain a noble gas electron shell configuration through the loss or gain of one or two electrons. In such cases, it is easier to ‘share’ valence electrons." ().
You can determine a covalent compound by calculating the difference in electronegativity
Hope this helps :)