Unraveling the Magic of CSS: A Beginner’s Guide to Styling Web Pages

Taking a look at the cascading in CSS

Photo by Robert Katzki on Unsplash

The Power of CSS: Transforming HTML Documents

CSS, or Cascading Style Sheets, is a language used to style and format the appearance of HTML documents. It works by applying styles to HTML elements, such as fonts, colors, and layouts.

When a browser loads an HTML document, it also reads the associated CSS file(s) and applies the styles to the elements on the page. This process is called rendering, and it’s what makes your web pages visually appealing and easy to read.

The Art of Cascading: How CSS Prioritizes Styles

The “cascading” part of CSS refers to the way styles are applied to elements in a hierarchical manner. When multiple styles target the same element, CSS follows a set of rules to determine which style takes precedence.

These rules are based on factors like specificity (how precisely a style targets an element) and the order in which styles are declared.

For example, consider the following CSS code:

p {
  color: blue;
}

p.special {
  color: red;
}