CSS defines styles for web pages, including colors, fonts, layout, and other design elements. Cascading Style Sheets explain how HTML elements should be displayed and arranged on a computer screen or mobile device. HTML and CSS are independent – CSS can be used with any XML-based markup language.
However, HTML and CSS are often associated because of how seamlessly they work together. Using the class attribute on any HTML element, you can easily target that element from CSS (or JavaScript). While most Web Developers need a variety of programming languages to do their job, a beginner can create their first web page with HTML and CSS.
CSS is a rule-based syntax for programming that is vital to web development. It is in high demand for businesses to hire web developers who are familiar with CSS. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, web development will grow much faster than the average occupation over the next decade. This article explains CSS with an example, explains its benefits, and answers frequently asked questions.
What is CSS?
Cascading Style Sheets are referred to as CSS. A style sheet language describes the look and formatting of a markup-language document. It provides HTML with an additional feature.
Generally, it is used to change the styles of web pages and user interfaces in HTML. CSS controls how a web page looks and feels. By using CSS, you can change the color of the text, the font style, the spacing between paragraphs, the size and layout of columns, the background color or images, the layout, variations in display for different devices and screen sizes, and many other things.
While CSS is simple to learn and understand, it provides powerful control over HTML document presentation. In most cases, CSS is used in conjunction with HTML or XHTML.
How does CSS work?
It is essential to understand the basics of HTML before you can understand CSS. Web developers layout Web pages according to the “box model.” Each box contains an element. Boxes are nested, one inside the other.
As an example, a page’s header is a box, which contains several smaller boxes containing all the elements of a header: the logo, navigation, social media buttons, shopping cart buttons, etc. A developer assigns styles to the “header” box using CSS. For this example, let’s assume that the developer made the text in the header purple, in Arial font, and fifteen points high. The “cascading” part of cascading style sheets comes into play here. Font styles applied to the header are cascaded down to all elements inside the header. Text-containing elements such as navigation, links, and calls to action will all be purple, Arial, and fifteen points high.
The types of CSS
In CSS, there are three types of styling: internal, external, and inline. Types of CSS refer to the way CSS is implemented. It is also known as embedded CSS and refers to adding the CSS code to the <head> section of the HTML document that defines a specific website.
Although an internal style sheet simplifies the process of having all the code in one place, it makes the file rather large and restricts the ability to apply style changes globally across different web pages. It would be easy to make a mistake if you wanted to change an element across several pages when using an internal style sheet.
The second type of CSS is external, where the style sheet is kept separately from the HTML code. It is widely accepted that this is the preferred type of CSS among developers and companies.
If your team is working on a large project or your company has a large website, standardization of style is essential. By keeping the style separate from the structure, global style changes can be made efficiently and accurately.
A final type of CSS code is inline CSS, which is applied within the HTML code, but not globally. The CSS code is instead used to modify a single element within the HTML code.
It is generally not recommended to use inline CSS. If you are developing a web page and wish to modify a single element, you can use inline CSS. For example, if you need to fix a website bug quickly, inline CSS might be the best solution – at least until you can fix it more globally with external CSS later on.
Advantages of CSS
- The CSS saves time because you only need to write it once and then use it in multiple HTML documents. It is possible to define a style for each HTML element and apply it to as many Web pages as you like.
- You do not have to write HTML tag attributes every time you load a page if you are using CSS.
- The CSS rule for a tag should be written once and applied to all tag occurrences. Less code means faster downloads.
- Maintenance is easy. Just change the style, and all web page elements will be updated automatically.
- As CSS has a much broader array of attributes than HTML, you can give your HTML page a far better appearance than HTML attributes.
- Style sheets allow content to be optimized for multiple types of devices. The same HTML document can be used to display different versions of a website for handheld devices like PDAs and cell phones.
- The HTML attributes are now being deprecated and CSS is being recommended instead. Therefore, HTML pages should use CSS to be compatible with future browsers.
History of CSS
The CSS standard was first proposed in 1994 by Norwegian technologist Hkon Wium Lie, at the time working at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) with Berners-Lee. It was two years later that the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) adopted the first standardized specification for CSS. It was co-developed by Lie and Dutch software developer Bert Bos.
How to learn CSS
You should learn HTML first and then take a CSS course. CSS is used with HTML in a variety of ways, so you need a solid understanding of HTML before you can modify HTML elements with CSS.
Even if you’re just getting started, you can learn both CSS and HTML on a learning path tailored to each. For the style of the website, HTML is used as the structure, and CSS is used as the style. With both skills, you’ll be able to design and build websites confidently.
Final Thoughts
The use of HTML and CSS simplifies the creation of desirable web documents. The results of comparing HTML vs CSS over different factors indicate that both languages are important for creating attractive websites.
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