✅ Mastering CSS Grid: Beginner to Advanced with Real-World Examples + Interview Questions

👋 Introduction

CSS Grid is a powerful layout system that allows developers to create two-dimensional layouts easily. Whether you're building dashboards, cards, or full-page layouts — Grid is your friend.

In this blog, we’ll go from basic to advanced, using practical examples, and wrap it up with interview questions and revision tips.

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🔰 Step 1: Basic Grid Setup

.container {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr 1fr;
  gap: 20px;
}

• display: grid — activates grid mode.

• grid-template-columns — defines 3 equal columns.

• gap — adds spacing between items.

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🧱 Step 2: Grid with Fixed and Flexible Columns

.container {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: 200px 1fr 2fr;
}

• First column = fixed 200px

• Second = flexible

• Third = 2x the second column

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🧠 Step 3: Using minmax() for Responsive Layouts

.container {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fit, minmax(250px, 1fr));
}

• Makes items auto-fit across the screen.

• Great for cards, galleries, etc.

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🔷 Step 4: Grid Template Areas for Readable Layouts

.grid-layout {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-areas:
    "header header"
    "nav main"
    "nav aside"
    "footer footer";
  grid-template-columns: 1fr 3fr;
  gap: 10px;
}

.header { grid-area: header; }
.nav    { grid-area: nav; }
.main   { grid-area: main; }
.aside  { grid-area: aside; }
.footer { grid-area: footer; }

Visual layout using names — makes things super readable and easy to maintain.

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🔍 Alignment & Justification in Grid

.container {
  display: grid;
  place-items: center; /* shorthand for justify-items & align-items */
  height: 100vh;
}

Or use individually:

• justify-items: center | start | end

• align-items: center | start | end

• justify-content — aligns the whole grid

• align-content — aligns the whole grid vertically

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🔁 Nested Grids (Advanced)

<div class="outer-grid">
  <div class="inner-grid">
    <div>Item 1</div>
    <div>Item 2</div>
  </div>
</div>

.outer-grid {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr;
}
.inner-grid {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(2, 1fr);
}

Useful when you want sub-layouts inside a parent grid.

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🔥 Grid vs Flexbox (Quick Comparison)

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💼 Interview Questions (For 3+ Years Experience)

1. What’s the difference between auto-fill and auto-fit in Grid?

2. How does grid-template-areas improve layout development?

3. What is the use of minmax() in CSS Grid?

4. Difference between align-items, align-content, justify-items, and justify-content?

5. What happens when a grid item spans more columns than defined?

6. What are nested grids? When and why would you use them?

👉 Make sure you can demonstrate examples live in an interview!

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🌐 Useful Links

• CSS Grid – MDN Docs

• CSS Tricks Complete Guide to Grid

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🚀 Bonus: GitHub & Social Links

• 🔗 GitHub Repo (Grid Examples and Notes)

• 🐦 Twitter

• 💼 LinkedIn