CSS 1: Selectors and Basic Styling

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Questions and Answers

What is the main benefit of using an external style sheet?

  • Can be used to apply styles to different website sections independently.
  • Makes it easy to modify styles without changing the HTML code. (correct)
  • Reduces file size and improves website loading speed.
  • Allows for more complex styling than internal style sheets.

What is the purpose of the <link> element in HTML when working with external style sheets?

  • To create an internal style sheet within the HTML document.
  • To load a JavaScript file that interacts with the style sheet.
  • To connect an external style sheet to the HTML document. (correct)
  • To define the style rules for a specific HTML element.

Which of the following is NOT a type of style sheet mentioned in the text?

  • Author-created style sheets
  • User style sheets
  • Browser style sheets
  • Inline style sheets (correct)

How can a user customize the way they view web pages using a browser?

<p>By using the browser's accessibility options to activate their own user style sheet. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the role of a browser's default style sheet?

<p>To define a basic visual appearance for web pages in the absence of any other styling. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following addresses is provided in the text for viewing the browser style sheet for Firefox?

<p>resource://gre-resources/forms.css/ (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Where can the browser style sheet for browsers using WebKit be found?

<p><a href="http://trac.webkit.org/browser/trunk/Source/WebCore/css/html.css">http://trac.webkit.org/browser/trunk/Source/WebCore/css/html.css</a> (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary advantage of using rem units in CSS?

<p>They are consistent throughout the document regardless of the element. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which unit of measure is NOT considered a relative unit?

<p>pt (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the recommended practice regarding absolute units in CSS?

<p>Avoid using absolute units unless for print styles. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is an absolute unit of measure used in CSS?

<p>cm (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What do vw and vh units represent in CSS?

<p>Percentage values of the total viewport dimensions. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary function of CSS selectors?

<p>To specify which elements will be affected by property values. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is an example of a pseudo-class selector?

<p>:hover (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does the Document Object Model (DOM) represent?

<p>The hierarchy and structure of an HTML document. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

In CSS, what does the term 'selector' refer to?

<p>The part of the CSS that defines which elements will have specific styles. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a distinguishing feature of modern CSS selector types compared to older methods?

<p>They include new complex selectors supported by modern browsers. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following statements correctly identifies a contextual selector?

<p>All paragraphs within a specific div. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the role of selectors when providing instructions to students?

<p>To identify specific groups of students for tailored messages. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

How can selectors be used to improve communication with students?

<p>By sending individualized messages based on their group. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What visual analogy is used to describe the structure represented by the DOM?

<p>A tree. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the three different types of style sheets mentioned?

<p>Author-created, User-defined, Default browser (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does the term 'inheritance' refer to in the context of CSS styles?

<p>Styles that are passed down from parent elements to their children (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is one limitation of modifying markup when working with CSS selectors?

<p>Markup cannot be altered to achieve visual goals (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the purpose of the browser's DevTools?

<p>To analyze and debug styles applied to HTML elements (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What happens when different style rules conflict in CSS?

<p>A system determines the order of precedence for styles (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which option describes what a box model represents in CSS?

<p>The visual representation of elements and their padding, border, and margin (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Why is it important to understand how other authors construct their pages?

<p>To learn effective techniques and best practices in styling (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is an author-created style in CSS?

<p>Custom styles defined by the author in their style sheets (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which statement about CSS styles is inaccurate?

<p>Only author-created styles influence how elements are displayed. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Flashcards

em

A relative unit of measure based on the font size of the parent element. This unit is convenient for setting relative sizes.

rem

A relative unit of measure based on the font size of the root element. This unit is useful for maintaining consistent font sizes throughout the document.

vw, vh

A relative unit of measure based on the width (vw) or height (vh) of the browser's viewport. This unit lets elements scale responsively with the window’s resizing.

ch

A relative unit of measure based on the width of the ‘0’ character in the element's font. It's not commonly used, but can be helpful for adjusting element sizes based on the character width.

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ex

A relative unit of measure based on the ‘x-height’ (the height of the lowercase ‘x’) of the element’s font. It’s rarely used, but can be helpful for adjusting element sizes based on the font’s x-height.

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External Style Sheet

Placing style rules in a separate file with a .css extension, offering improved maintainability and performance.

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link Element

Used within the element in HTML to link to an external style sheet.

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Author-Created Style Sheets

Style sheets created by website developers. This is what you learn and use in this chapter.

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User Style Sheets

Style sheets that allow users to customize how a website is displayed.

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Browser Style Sheets

Style sheets provided by the browser to define how HTML elements (like headings or paragraphs) look by default.

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CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)

A system for customizing how HTML elements are displayed on a web page.

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Selector

A specific part of a CSS rule that targets the elements it applies to.

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Attribute Selectors

CSS rules that target elements based on their attributes like class, id, or specific attribute values.

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Pseudo-Class Selectors

CSS rules that target elements based on their state or condition, like :hover, :focus, or :active.

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Contextual Selectors

CSS rules that target elements based on their position within the HTML document hierarchy, like descendants, siblings, or direct children.

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CSS Selectors

A set of selectors that identify specific HTML elements that will be styled by CSS rules.

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Document Object Model (DOM)

The structural representation of an HTML document interpreted by the browser, forming a tree-like model reflecting the nesting and relationships of HTML elements.

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Selecting HTML Elements

The practice of selecting specific HTML elements using different selector types for styling.

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Selecting via Attributes

A way to use CSS selectors to identify HTML elements by their attribute values, like class names or id attributes.

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Selecting by Context

A way to use CSS selectors to identify specific elements based on their position within the DOM tree, like children or siblings.

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Selecting by State

The ability to select elements based on dynamic conditions, like user interactions or state changes, using pseudo-classes.

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Browser DevTools

A special tool built into web browsers to inspect and modify the elements and styles of a webpage, providing insights into how a page is constructed and helping developers debug issues.

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CSS Cascade

A mechanism in CSS that defines the order in which style rules are applied to elements, enabling developers to prioritize and control style application.

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Browser Default Stylesheet

A type of style sheet that provides default visual presentation for elements on a webpage, often implemented by the web browser itself.

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User-defined Stylesheet

A type of style sheet that is defined by the user of the web browser, allowing users to personalize their browsing experience.

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Styles Inspector

A powerful feature within DevTools that allows developers to examine how different styles are applied to an element, including author-created, browser default, and inherited styles.

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Box Model Visualizer

A feature within DevTools used to understand how styles are influencing the layout and size of elements. It provides insights into the padding, margin, border, and content area of elements.

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Elements Panel

A feature within DevTools that allows developers to examine the structure of a webpage's elements and their hierarchy.

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Styles Panel

A feature within DevTools that enables developers to inspect and modify the styles applied to selected elements, providing control over their visual presentation.

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Study Notes

CSS 1: Selectors and Basic Styling

  • Rationale for CSS: CSS is a W3C standard used to control the visual presentation of HTML elements. It separates content (HTML) from presentation (CSS), making websites more maintainable.
  • CSS Syntax:
    • A rule consists of a selector followed by a declaration block.
    • Selectors are patterns used to identify specific HTML elements.
    • The declaration block contains property-value pairs (e.g., color: red).
    • Each declaration ends with a semicolon.
  • CSS Location:
    • Inline styles: Style rules placed within an HTML element's style attribute. Less maintainable.
    • Embedded styles: Style rules placed within the HTML document's <head> section within a <style> tag. More maintainable than inline.
    • External stylesheets: Style rules stored in separate .css files linked to the HTML document via a <link> tag in the <head>. Most commonly used for centralized styling.
  • Selectors:
    • Element selectors: Select all instances of an HTML element (e.g., h1, p).
    • Class selectors: Target HTML elements with the same class attribute using a . to identify the class.
    • Id selectors: Target a specific element using an id attribute with #. More specific selectors.
    • Attribute selectors: Select elements based on the presence or value of attributes (e.g., a[href$=".pdf"]).
    • Pseudo-class selectors: Select elements based on their relationships or states (e.g., :hover, :first-child).
    • Pseudo-element selectors: Select elements which do not directly exist (e.g., the first letter of an element).
    • Contextual selectors (combinators): Selects elements based on their relationships to other elements in the document tree. There are descendant, child, sibling selectors.

Benefits of CSS

  • Improved formatting control: More granular control over visual aspects compared to HTML.
  • Improved maintainability: Centralised CSS changes can modify the entire website through a single file.
  • Improved accessibility: Separated presentation helps assistive technologies like screen readers.
  • Improved page download speed: Fewer styling details within the HTML improves loading time.
  • Improved output flexibility: Adapt a site design to various devices or outputs by manipulating CSS.

CSS Syntax Details

  • Values: Can be keywords, length measurements, percentages, numbers, colors, and URLs.
  • Understanding Units:
    • Relative Units: % (relative to parent element), em (relative to parent font size), rem (relative to root element font size), ex, and ch.
    • Absolute Units: px (pixels), cm, mm, pt, and pc. Essential when dealing with images.

CSS Box Model

  • Block-level elements: Display on separate lines (e.g., <h1>, <div>).
  • Inline elements: Display inline on the same line (e.g., <span>, <img>).
  • Content area: The element's actual content.
  • Padding: Space around the content.
  • Border: Visual border around an element.
  • Margin: Space outside an element's border.
  • CSS Specificity: How the browser identifies the most important style rules to apply to an element if multiple rules apply. Inline styles are the most specific.
    • The more rules the rule contains the higher its specificity, and thus the greater the chance to override the rule that already exists.
  • Inheritance: The concept that properties defined for an element might also be applied to its descendants. For example text and color.

CSS Cascade

  • Specifies how conflicting styles are dealt with: Inheritance (properties that filter down to children), specificity (how the browser weights rules), and location (order of styles).

Text Styling

  • Font families: Used to define the appearance of text and determine the typeface (e.g., "Arial", "Times New Roman").
  • Font sizes: Define the size of text.
  • Font weights: Specify the boldness of text (e.g., normal, bold).
  • Font styles: Determine the style (e.g., italic).
  • Paragraph properties: Determine the appearance and layout of text blocks. (e.g. text-align, line height).

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