Cascading Style Sheets, commonly known as CSS, is a style sheet language used primarily for designing and beautifying websites. In a typical stack, you have HTML, CSS, and Javascript. If you think of it as the human body, HTML is our base or the skeleton, CSS creates our physical appearance, and Javascript, like our joints, helps us move and be more dynamic.
By default, a browser will render HTML as a monochrome, plain document. But, it’s CSS that provides the capability to control the presentation of this markup, allowing developers to modify elements’ size, color, position, and layout.
Brief History
CSS was first introduced in 1996. By 1999, it had evolved to CSS3, which brought with it many advanced features. Since then, the language has continued to evolve, adding new features and capabilities. Contrary to what one might assume, there will never be a “CSS4.” Instead, updates are made to the existing CSS3 specifications.
The Anatomy of CSS
A typical CSS rule begins with a selector. This selector targets an element (or elements) in the HTML document. Following the selector are curly braces ({}) that encapsulate a declaration block. This block contains properties and values that dictate how the targeted elements should appear. This entire structure is known as a CSS rule.
