What is CSS?
CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheet and dictates the layout and style of a webpage, it’s functionality and its overall presentation. While the markup language, such as HTML, works to build out the specifications of web pages such as the header, paragraph and so forth, CSS acts to control the design and visual layout of the webpage, or multiple pages, simplifying the organization and creation of website development.
What Does CSS Control?
If HTML is the language that indicates what the content of a webpage contains, then CSS is the foundation that dictates and controls how a webpage will look. The properties that CSS has control over ranges from the color of a text to the spacing of paragraphs to even dictating the background color or image of the webpage.
How Does CSS Work?
Fundamentally, CSS is a set of styling rules that operate to tell a webpage how it will be presented. CSS creates an interaction between HTML elements. Through a series of commands created in the code, the CSS creates selectors that indicate where in the webpage the style or layout will be affected. Once the selector has been indicated, it works with the code that holds the dictation which is called the declaration. In the declaration, properties and values indicating the specifications of the webpage style are outlined and instructed to affect the ruling area or areas of the webpages. In that process, and working along with HTML code, there are several ways that CSS will receive direction to process the webpage layout. Through three different methods, external stylesheet, internal stylesheet, or inline styles, CSS layout can be read to fulfill its style dictation.
- External Stylesheet: An external stylesheet is a separate .css file that includes all stylized rules that become linked to the webpage. An appealing benefit to this type of CSS programming is the ability to create one set of rules that will guide the layout for multiple webpages. If an adjustment needs to be made to an assortment of webpages, or the entire website, a simple change in the external file will need to be made just once and applied to the linked webpage that will affect all the other pages.
- Internal Stylesheet: For a specific adjustment to be made on an individual webpage, internal stylesheet is the appropriate method to be applied. Through the header of a specified .html page, the directions needed to adjust specific elements, or layout style, can be dictated. The advantage of this method is to create a unique page within the uniformity of a website. The CSS of that specific webpage can be controlled within the instructions listed in the header and will only apply to that specific webpage allowing a separate design to occur.
- Inline Styles: Inline style is a very specific and direct alteration that is made to a single .html code. While this is the most limiting method for a webpage’s overall design and layout, it can make a very specific adjustment needed to be made at a particular point on a webpage. This method can focus on a specific element and be directly applied within the HTML code.
