Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is an essential part of creating appealing websites. It works with HTML to style web pages, controlling how elements like colors, fonts, and layout appear on screen. If HTML is the structure of a webpage, CSS is what brings it to life visually. This beginner-friendly guide will help you understand the basics of CSS, from its syntax to common properties.
Learning CSS can help anyone interested in web design or development. Web designers use CSS to make sites look good and function well on different devices. You can quickly learn CSS basics through free online tutorials and with practice, create great-looking web pages. CSS continues to evolve with new features, so keeping up with it helps designers create better sites.
Style Your Web with CSS
What is CSS?
CSS, or Cascading Style Sheets, is the language that tells web browsers how to display HTML elements. It’s like the makeup artist for your website, controlling the colors, fonts, layout, and overall look and feel.
Basic CSS Syntax
A CSS rule-set consists of a selector and a declaration block.
- Selector: This targets the HTML element you want to style (e.g.,
h1,p,div). - Declaration block: Contains one or more declarations, each specifying a property and its value.
Example:
h1 {
color: blue; /* Property: color, Value: blue */
font-size: 24px; /* Property: font-size, Value: 24px */
}Ways to Add CSS
- Inline: CSS is added directly to the HTML element using the
styleattribute. This is generally not recommended for larger projects due to maintainability issues. - Internal: CSS rules are placed within a
<style>tag in the<head>section of the HTML document. Good for small projects or specific page styling. - External: CSS rules are stored in a separate
.cssfile, linked to the HTML document using the<link>tag. This is the preferred method for larger projects, promoting code reusability and separation of concerns.
Common CSS Properties
| Property | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
color | Sets the text color. | color: red; |
font-size | Sets the font size. | font-size: 16px; |
background-color | Sets the background color. | background-color: yellow; |
width | Sets the width of an element. | width: 300px; |
height | Sets the height of an element. | height: 200px; |
margin | Sets the space around an element. | margin: 10px; |
padding | Sets the space inside an element, between the content and the border. | padding: 20px; |
border | Sets the border around an element. | border: 1px solid black; |
Resources for Learning CSS
- Mozilla Developer Network (MDN): Comprehensive documentation and tutorials (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS)
- W3Schools: Interactive tutorials and examples (https://www.w3schools.com/css/)
- FreeCodeCamp: Free online courses and certifications (https://www.freecodecamp.org/)
Key Takeaways
- CSS styles HTML elements to control how web pages look
- Free online tutorials make learning CSS basics easy
- CSS skills help create better-looking and more responsive websites
CSS Fundamentals
CSS is the language that styles web pages. It controls how elements look and where they appear on a screen. CSS makes websites more attractive and easier to use.
CSS Syntax and Structure
CSS uses rules to style HTML elements. Each rule has a selector and declarations. The selector picks which elements to style. Declarations set the styles to apply.
A basic CSS rule looks like this:
p {
color: blue;
font-size: 16px;
}
This rule makes all paragraph text blue and 16 pixels tall. The selector “p” targets all
elements. Inside the curly braces are two declarations. Each one has a property and a value split by a colon.
CSS can be added to HTML in three ways:
- Inline – using the style attribute in HTML elements
- Internal – using a
