My Journey Learning CSS - Selectors and Box Model ๐ (Day-8)


Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a fundamental part of web design, allowing developers to control the look and feel of a webpage. Today, we'll dive into essential CSS selectors and the CSS Box Model, along with an interesting concept known as Margin Collapse
๐ Understanding CSS Selectors -
CSS selectors are used to target and style specific HTML elements. Here are some key types of selectors:
1. Element Selector
This selector applies styles to all instances of a specific HTML element.
div {
color: blue;
}
the above rule applies to all <p>
elements, making the text color blue.
2. Class Selector
Class selectors are reusable and apply styles to elements with a specific class.
.my-class {
font-size: 18px;
}
Apply this style by adding class="my-class"
to an element.
3. ID Selector
ID selectors target a unique element with a specific ID.
#unique-id {
background-color: yellow;
}
Since IDs are unique, this style applies only to one element per page.
4. Child Selector
This targets only direct child elements.
div > p {
color: red;
}
Only <p>
elements directly inside a <div>
are styled.
5. Descendant Selector
Unlike the child selector, this applies styles to all matching nested elements.
div p {
color: green;
}
This rule affects all <p>
elements inside a <div>
, no matter how deeply nested they are.
6. Universal Selector
Applies styles to all elements on a page.
* {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}
Useful for resetting default browser styles.
7. Pseudo Selectors
These include pseudo-classes and pseudo-elements:
๐ CSS Box Model -
Every element in CSS is structured as a box consisting of the following:
Content - The actual text, image, or media.
Padding - Space between the content and border.
Border - A boundary around the element.
Margin - Space outside the element, affecting its distance from others.
Example of Box Model
:
๐ Margin Collapse -
Margin collapse occurs when vertical margins of adjacent elements overlap instead of adding up.
Example
Instead of 50px (20px + 30px), the actual margin will be 30px (the larger value).
Avoiding Margin Collapse
Use padding
instead of margin or add overflow: hidden;
to the parent container.
๐ฏ Conclusion
Understanding CSS selectors and the box model is crucial for designing responsive and well-structured web pages. Experiment with different selectors and box model properties to refine your CSS skills!
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Written by

ANGSHUMAN SINGHA
ANGSHUMAN SINGHA
๐ Aspiring Full-Stack Web Developer | Learning Full Stack | Passionate About Building Interactive & Scalable Web Apps