Definition of CSS
CSS, or Cascading Style Sheets, is a style sheet language used to describe the look and formatting of a document written in HTML. While HTML provides the structure, CSS is responsible for the visual appearance of the website. Think of CSS as the “clothes” of the website that give it style, colors, fonts, and layout.
Importance of CSS in Web Development
If HTML is the skeleton, then CSS is the skin. It transforms plain, unformatted HTML pages into visually appealing, user-friendly websites. Without CSS, every webpage would look like a basic text document.
Some key benefits of CSS include:
- Consistency: You can style multiple HTML pages with the same CSS, ensuring a consistent look and feel across your website.
- Efficiency: CSS allows you to update the design of multiple pages by editing a single file.
- Customization: CSS gives you complete control over the presentation, including fonts, colors, layouts, spacing, and more.
Basic CSS Structure
CSS works by targeting HTML elements and applying styles to them. A typical CSS rule looks like this:
h1 {
color: blue;
font-size: 24px;
}Here’s a breakdown of what this CSS rule does:
h1: This is the HTML element we’re styling (in this case, all<h1>headings).color: blue;: This sets the color of the heading text to blue.font-size: 24px;: This increases the font size of the heading to 24 pixels.
Adding CSS to Your HTML
There are three primary ways to add CSS to your HTML document:
01. Inline CSS: You can add CSS directly within an HTML element. This is done using the style attribute.
<h1 style="color: blue;">Welcome to My Website!</h1>02. Internal CSS: You can write CSS within a <style> tag inside the <head> of your HTML document.
<head>
<style>
h1 {
color: blue;
}
</style>
</head>03. External CSS: You can write CSS in a separate .css file and link it to your HTML document using the <link> tag.
<head>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="styles.css">
</head>Using an external CSS file is generally the best practice, as it keeps your HTML and CSS separate and easier to manage.