CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)

Overview

CSS is a cornerstone technology used by most websites to create visually engaging webpages, user interfaces for web applications, and user interfaces for many mobile applications. It is used by the vast majority of websites and is an essential skill for web developers. CSS is designed to enable the separation of presentation and content, including layout, colors, and fonts. This separation improves content accessibility and offers more flexibility and control in the specification of presentation characteristics.

History

The development of CSS started in 1994 by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), led by the W3C's founding director and inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee. The intention was to improve web accessibility and to make HTML markup more semantic rather than stylistic.

Usage Types

CSS can be implemented in three different ways: inline, internal, and external. Each method has its use cases and applications, but all aim to control the appearance and layout of websites.

Inline CSS

Inline CSS is written directly within the HTML elements. It has the highest priority among the three types of CSS but is not recommended because it mixes HTML with CSS.

Internal CSS

Internal CSS involves embedding CSS in the head section of the HTML document. This method applies the CSS rules to the whole page but doesn't clutter the HTML tags as inline CSS does.

External CSS

External CSS refers to the process of linking external .css files to the HTML document. These stylesheets can be used across multiple HTML pages, making them more consistent and easier to maintain.

Conclusion

CSS is an essential language in the world of web development, providing web designers and developers with the power to control the visual aspects of a web page, making the web a more attractive and user-friendly place. As such, it remains a fundamental part of any digital marketing agency's toolkit.