What Are CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)? Meaning, Types, and Properties

Cascading style sheets (CSS) is defined as a style sheet language developed in the 1990s to support the styling of web documents, which is now an essential skill for web developers and one of the key pillars of the internet user experience that works in conjunction with various markup languages. This article explains the types and working of CSS and its top 20 properties you need to know. 

What Is CSS?

Cascading style sheets (CSS) is defined as a style sheet language developed in the 1990s to support the styling of web documents, which is now an essential skill for web developers and one of the key pillars of the internet user experience that works in conjunction with various markup languages. 

CSS is a style sheet programming language that helps configure and manage the appearance and formatting of a document created in a markup language. It gives HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) an extra feature. It’s typically combined with HTML to modify the look and feel of web pages and user interfaces. 

In 1996, W3C (the World Wide Web Consortium) created CSS for a clear purpose. The tags that would assist in formatting the page were not intended for HTML elements. Although CSS isn’t strictly required, you wouldn’t want to visit a website that solely contains HTML elements because it would seem quite plain. For this reason, the CSS style has several components:

1. Selector

Selectors pinpoint the HTML components on web pages that need styling. The HTML elements that one should choose to have the CSS property values in the rule applied to them are specified by a pattern of terms and other elements called CSS selectors. Selectors include:

• Simple selectors (for elements based on name, id, and class)
• Combinator selectors (for elements based on a specific relationship between them)
• Pseudo-class selectors (for elements based on a particular state)
• Pseudo-elements selectors (to style a part of an element)
• Selectors for attributes (for elements based on an attribute or attribute value)

2. Properties

The styles used on specific selectors are CSS properties. It functions similarly to attributes like background color, font size, position, etc. The CSS ruleset places them before values, and a colon separates them from property values. There are several attributes for various HTML selectors and elements.

Some properties can be applied to any selector and are universal. Others only operate in certain situations and on specific selectors. Grid-template-columns, which are used to style the page layout, are an example. It primarily functions with divs with the grid display property set (we shall look at the key properties of CSS later in the article). HTML selectors also have numerous characteristics and their corresponding values.

3. Values

Values that are assigned to properties define those properties. In CSS, text values are common. In contrast to strings, they are typically written without quotations. In addition to text, CSS values can also take the shape of URLs, measures, numbers, etc. Specific CSS attributes permit integer definitions for their values, including negative numbers.

One can express CSS values in various property-specific units, but standard units include px, em, fr, and percentages. CSS values can have several values and can be used to create shorthand by manipulating them. Properties like background images require an actual URL as their value.

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How does CSS work?

Combining the HTML information and CSS style happens in two stages after loading and parsing. The browser first transforms them into the Document Object Model (DOM). The browser will display the content as soon as the DOM, a representation of the page stored in the computer’s memory, combines the document’s content and style.

It places the code in a DOM after parsing the HTML document. It describes the complete website, which includes the siblings, parents, and kids. When parsing, it divides the header links that contain the CSS files. The CSS files are loaded in the following phase after being split. The parsing of CSS takes place once the CSS files have been loaded; however, there’s a slight variation from the parsing of the HTML files.

The processing of CSS files is a little more complex and involves two processes. The first phase, usually cascading, is resolving conflicts between CSS declarations. Combining many CSS files while resolving problems like inconsistencies between the various rules and declarations applied to the same element is what it entails. The processing of final CSS values is the second stage.

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Top 5 CSS software

To use CSS effectively, you need to know some of the popular CSS software in use:

• PostCSS: Through JavaScript, PostCSS enables you to add and manage CSS. PostCSS is more than just one CSS tool; it’s a potent combination of features and packages that improves your CSS process. The grid in PostCSS is incredibly flexible and adaptable.
• Visual Studio: Microsoft created Visual Studio Code, an open-source CSS editor. It has built-in support for TypeScript, JavaScript, and Node.js. This CSS editor tool offers the IntelliSense feature, which delivers intelligent completions based on crucial modules, variable types, and function definitions.
• Notepad++: Popular free CSS code editor Notepad++ is created in C++. Pure Win32 API is used, which allows faster program execution. All the standard code editor capabilities, such as tabbed editing, find and replace, and autocompletion, are present in Notepad++.
• Koala: Koala is a complete GUI program that manages CoffeeScript, Compass, Less, and Sass compilations from a single location. Windows, Linux, and macOS all support its use. Koala offers developers a selection of project parameters, extra compilation choices, and personalized error messages.
• Komodo Edit: Komodo Edit is a traditional CSS tool. It is a robust and user-friendly tool for modifying code. It enables developers to debug, perform unit testing, refactor code, and perform other tasks. Additionally, it offers code profiles and connections with other technologies like Grunt.

Is it worth getting CSS certified?

In a market that’s becoming increasingly competitive, certifications are essential for establishing credibility and proving competence. The two primary technologies one can utilize to build web pages are CSS and HTML, and W3School offers one of the most prestigious online CSS certifications for aspirants. You can also opt for company-provided certifications, such as the ones provided by Coursera. This online certification exam evaluates your practical CSS skills and fundamental understanding of using HTML and CSS to build web pages.

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Types of CSS

Cascading Style Sheets or CSS can be of three types – inline, embedded, and external.

1. Inline style CSS

When styling a single HTML element, inline CSS is utilized. It is a style sheet with a CSS property tied to a component in the body section. Using the style attribute, one can define this style form within an HTML tag. An HTML element’s style attribute is used by inline CSS. It would be complex to keep a website updated solely with inline CSS.

This is the case due to the requirement that each HTML tag is decorated individually when using inline CSS. Consequently, employing it is not advised. This CSS style is generally used for previewing, testing modifications, and quick repairs of websites/web pages. One can apply inline CSS in this manner: 

• Activate the HTML file where the inline CSS has to be included. To insert the inline CSS, navigate to the desired element(s).
• After that, the tag(s) where the inline CSS is to be used should have style=”code” added. The CSS code that one must add is the code in this case. 

One advantage is that inserting the CSS code doesn’t require making and uploading a separate file, but a disadvantage is that using too much inline CSS can make the HTML structure unorganized.

2. Embedded cascading style sheet

Also referred to as internal CSS, this technique entails inserting the CSS code into the HTML file that corresponds to the web page where users will apply the CSS styling. For a single HTML page, an internal CSS style definition is used. An HTML page’s head> section, specifically a style> element, contains the definition of an internal CSS.

This might be employed when one HTML document needs to have a distinctive style. Styling a single web page is incredibly easy with internal CSS. Because one must place the CSS style on each web page, using it for several web pages takes effort. The process of using internal or embedded CSS is as follows:  

• Navigate to the head> tag in the HTML file once it opens.
• Type in “style type=”text/css”> here. Next, starting with the line after that, one should add the CSS code. ‘/style>’ is used to end a style tag. 
• To make changes permanent, save the HTML document. 

One of its benefits is that when the CSS code is added to an HTML page, it prevents additional files from being uploaded. Adding code to an HTML document will make the page smaller and load faster is one of its drawbacks.

3. External cascading style sheet

A web page must connect to an external file containing the CSS code to be eligible for the external CSS style. External CSS is a potent CSS styling technique when creating a large website. Developers link web pages to the external.css file when using external CSS. Users can style a website more effectively with CSS. One can alter the entire website at once by altering the.css file.

This indicates that users can choose just one style for each element, and that style will be used throughout all web pages. These steps are followed to use external CSS: 

• Create a new file in the text editor after opening it. If you want to apply CSS to the HTML web page, add it here (s). As a .css file, save the document, then close it.
• Activate the CSS code in the HTML document you want to use. 
• Place a reference to the external CSS file immediately behind the title> element in the HTML file’s head> section. Archive the HTML file. 

A benefit is that it’s a more effective way, especially for styling a big website, and a drawback is that submitting lots of CSS files might make a website take longer to download.

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Key Properties of CSS

A CSS property determines an HTML element’s style or behavior. Examples include font style, transform, border, color, and margin. A CSS property declaration consists of a property name and a property value. Following a colon, the value is listed after the property name. A semicolon separates each name-value pair if more than one CSS property is specified. 

Although the final property declaration should not contain a semicolon, doing so makes it simpler to add more CSS properties without forgetting to include that extra semicolon. For various HTML components, one can set a variety of CSS properties, such as

1. Display

The display property controls the box type that an element creates. Though the display can take on many different values, only four are most frequently utilized. The default display value for each element is specified in the CSS specification.

2. Color

The text color of an element is defined by its color parameter. For instance, the body selector’s color attribute specifies the page’s default text color. There are several acceptable formats for color values, but the most used ones are hex values, RGB, and named colors.

3. Syntax

A CSS stylesheet comprises a set of rules that the web browser interprets and then applies to the associated page components, such as paragraphs, headings, etc. A selector and one or more declarations are the two fundamental components of a CSS rule.

4. Background

A web page’s visual presentation is significantly influenced by its background. CSS offers several properties for customizing an element’s background, such as background color, image placement, positioning, etc. The background properties are background-color, background-image, background-repeat, background-attachment, and background-position.

5. Fonts

One must use the correct font and style for the text to be easily readable. Text font styling options in CSS include changing the font’s face, adjusting its size and boldness, managing variants and so on. Font- family, -style, -weight, -size, and -variant are the different font attributes.

6. Text

CSS offers several features that make it simple and effective to specify different text styles, including color, alignment, spacing, decoration, transformation, etc. Several frequently used text properties include text-align, text-decoration, text-transform, text-indent, line-height, letter-spacing, and word-spacing.

7. Dimension

Developers can manage an element’s width and height using CSS’s several dimension properties, including width, height, max-width, min-width, max-height, and min-height. The display uses width and height attributes frequently. Padding, borders, and margins are not included in width and height.

8. Margin

Using CSS margin properties, setting the border-spacing for a box element is possible. The margin of an element is always translucent, independent of the backdrop color. If the parent element has a preexisting background color, it will be visible via the margin area.

9. Lists

CSS offers many attributes for styling and formatting the most popular ordered and unordered lists. People can usually control the marker’s form or look using these list attributes. Among other things, you can adjust how far a marker is from the list’s text.

10. Links

A website cannot function without connections, often known as hyperlinks. It makes it possible for users to traverse the website. Appropriately designing the links is a crucial component of creating a user-friendly website. There are four primary states for links: link, visited, active, and hover.

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11. Layers

Because text, graphics, and other elements are arranged on the page without touching one another, HTML pages are regarded as two-dimensional. Boxes may be stacked horizontally, in vertical directions, and along the z-axis.

12. Gradients

One can speed up downloads and use less bandwidth by utilizing gradients. The output will render much faster because the browser generates it, and gradient-containing items can be scaled up or down to any degree without losing quality.

13. Outline

Developers can specify a box-shaped outline region around an element using its outline settings. A line sketched just outside the elements’ borders is known as an outline. The outline indicates focus or active states for elements like buttons, form fields, etc.

14. Filters

The CSS filter property, which accepts one or more filter functions in the order specified, can be used to apply the filter effects to the element. Developers can use it to implement visual effects like blur, brightness or contrast balance, color saturation, etc.

15. Units

Absolute units, like pixels, points, and so forth, or relative units, can measure length. For non-zero values, CSS units must be specified because there is no default unit. A unit that is absent or ignored would be regarded as an error.

16. Opacity

Opacity was present long before it was included in the CSS version 3 specs. Older browsers, however, have various settings for opacity or transparency. The range for the opacity attribute is 0.0 to 1.0. Using CSS opacity, developers may also create translucent pictures.

17. Validation

Website validation is the process of making sure a website’s pages adhere to the formal standards and rules established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Verification is crucial. It will ensure that all web browsers, search engines, etc., interpret your web pages the same way.

18. Position

A good layout design requires that elements be placed correctly on the web pages. You may position items using a variety of CSS techniques. You can read about these placement techniques individually in the following section.

19. Padding

You may control the distance between an element’s content and border using the padding properties. The background color of the element has an impact on the padding. For instance, if you set a background color for an element, the padding area will show that color.

20. Tables

Tabular data, such as financial reports fetched from a database management system (DBMS), are often displayed in tables. However, when you construct an HTML table without any styles or attributes, browsers show them without a border. You can significantly enhance the aesthetic of your tables with CSS.

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Takeaway 

Cascading style sheets or CSS is now a web development staple. Not only is it used for styling web pages, but with the rise of e-commerce, ebooks, web-based applications, etc., it powers most of our online user experiences. CSS is currently in version 3, with CSS4 in the works. Knowing how CSS functions and understanding JavaScript and HTML can be instrumental in building better web assets for an enterprise. 

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