What is CSS?
CSS, which stands for Cascading Style Sheets, is a stylesheet language used for describing the presentation of a document written in HTML. In simpler terms, it's the language responsible for styling the visual aspects of a webpage, such as fonts, colors, spacing, and layout.
The Evolution of Web Styling
Web styling has come a long way since the early days of the internet. In the past, styling was often embedded within the HTML(Hypertext Markup Language) itself, making it challenging to maintain and customize. CSS emerged as a solution to this problem, separating the structure (HTML) from the presentation (CSS).
How CSS Works
CSS works by selecting HTML elements and applying styling rules to them. These rules dictate how the elements should appear on the webpage. It follows a cascading hierarchy, meaning that multiple styles can be applied to the same element, and the most specific rule takes precedence.
Types of CSS
There are three primary ways to include CSS in a webpage:
Inline CSS
Inline CSS is added directly to individual HTML elements using the "style" attribute. It's useful for making quick, specific style changes but is not recommended for larger projects due to its lack of scalability.
Internal CSS
Internal CSS is placed within the HTML document's <style> tags in the document's head section. It applies styles to elements on that specific page.
External CSS
External CSS is stored in separate .css files and linked to HTML documents. It allows for consistent styling across multiple pages and is the preferred method for larger websites.