Data Structure
Networking
RDBMS
Operating System
Java
MS Excel
iOS
HTML
CSS
Android
Python
C Programming
C++
C#
MongoDB
MySQL
Javascript
PHP
- Selected Reading
- UPSC IAS Exams Notes
- Developer's Best Practices
- Questions and Answers
- Effective Resume Writing
- HR Interview Questions
- Computer Glossary
- Who is Who
Nesting and Grouping in CSS
Nesting and Grouping in CSS helps developers to write short and precise codes that are easy to run. Lengthy codes are always disadvantageous for the developers as it becomes difficult to debug the codes and increases the loading time for the web pages, decreasing the readability of the websites.
In this article, we will be understanding about nesting and grouping, their advantages , their differences and how they help in reducing the code size, increasing the readability and making web site maintainable.
Nesting in CSS
The nesting property in CSS enables the developers to nest one specific style rule within another, with the child rule's selector relative to the parent rule's selector.
In nesting of CSS, order of nesting is important for e.g: if we use div p, then style will be applid to p element inside div tag and if we reverse the order say, p div, then style will be applid to div tag which is inside a p tag.
Syntax
class1_selector class2_selector id_selector{
property: value;
}
Example
In this example, we are having a p element which is outside div element and another p element which is inside a div element. Here, style is applied only to p element which is inside div element using nesting.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>
Nesting in CSS
</title>
<style>
h1 {
color: #00FF00;
text-decoration: underline;
}
div p {
background-color: #04af2f;
color: white;
font-size: 20px;
letter-spacing: 1px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h3>Nesting In CSS</h3>
<p>
This text is written using p tag which has no
styles applied to it.
</p>
<div>
<p>
This text is written using p tag which
is inside a div element. This is the
example of Nesting in CSS.
</p>
</div>
</body>
</html>
Advantages of Nesting in CSS
Following are the major advantages of Nesting in CSS:
- Modular and Maintainable: With the help of nesting, we can group related styles at one place reducing repetition of code, which drastically reduces the development and debugging time.
- Efficient Media Queries: Nesting eliminates the requirement for a distinct media query rule for each selection. This can be added immediately where the selector was declared.
- Reduced Code: With the help of nesting, we can stack selectors inside of other selectors rather than replicating the same set of characteristics for each selector. This reduces the code and the loading time as a whole.
Grouping in CSS
Grouping in CSS applies the same styles to multiple elements at once. This results in reducing the code and work needed to create standard styles for each element. We can use comma(,) to group various elements.
Syntax
selector1, selector2, selector3?...selectorN {
property: value;
}
Example
In this example, we have applied common properties using grouping to div, p, article and span element.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>
Grouping in CSS
</title>
<style>
div, p, article, span {
background-color: #04af2f;
color: white;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h3>Grouping In CSS</h3>
<h4>
Here we have used Grouping of elements
to apply common style to each element.
</h4>
<p>This is a p element.</p>
<div>This is a div element.</div>
<br>
<span>This is a span element.</span>
<br><br>
<article>This is an article element.</article>
</body>
</html>
Advantages of Grouping in CSS
Following are the advantages of grouping in CSS:
- It helps to shorten code that contains numerous selectors with the same characteristics avoiding repetition and increasing readability of the code. When using grouping, both page load times and code development time are improved.
- If there is an error in the code, you can easily make changes in one selector and it will be applied to all the selectors grouped together improving maintainability of the code.
Difference between Nesting and Grouping
|
Nesting |
Grouping |
|---|---|
|
Nesting applies styles to child elements within a parent element. |
Grouping applies same properties to multiple elements at once. |
|
Nesting is a technique for managing and simplifying the attributes of numerous items at once, however if more elements are nested with the same values, it may become troublesome. It could be difficult to control a nesting feature like that. |
Applying the characteristics to several distinct components at once using grouping is straightforward and manageable. |
|
Multiple selectors are separated by a space reflecting the hierarchical relationship of HTML. |
Multiple selectors are comma separated. |
Conclusion
Although you can always list your CSS styles separately, remember that grouping styles together saves space and compartmentalizes the selectors. Things are kept organized by grouping. Nesting will aid in the modularization and maintenance of style sheets. This is due to nesting, which allows all styles associated with a selector, children/parent selectors, and even media queries to be nested in the same location.
2K+ Views
