Specificity in CSS

Introduction

• Specificity in CSS determines which style rules apply in cases of conflicting styles.
• Example: Two conflicting styles on an element for background color (red vs yellow).
• Cascade algorithm helps determine which style to apply.

Cascade Algorithm

• CSS: Cascading Style Sheets.
• Resolves conflict using 4 rules.
• Determines which property will be applied.

Four Rules of the Cascade Algorithm

1. **Position and Order of Appearance:

   • Later positioned properties overwrite earlier ones if selectors are of the same type.
   • Example: .c-purple and .c-red, the latter one applies if both selectors are equal.

2. **Specificity Calculation:

   • Inline styles are most specific, then ID selectors, class/attribute selectors, element selectors, and the universal selector.
   • Use the least specific selector for easier overwriting.

3. **Origin of CSS:

   • Importance of user-agent stylesheets (default browser styles).
   • Styles written by the user will overwrite user-agent styles.

4. **Importance (using !important):

   • Overrides all other specificity including inline styles.
   • Last resort since it makes further overwriting difficult.

Specificity Calculation

• Universal Selector (*): 0 points.
• Element Selector or Pseudo Elements: 1 point.
• Class Selector, Attribute Selector, or Pseudo Classes: 10 points.
• ID Selector: 100 points.
• Inline Styles: 1000 points.
• Example: Three classes are .yellow, .c-purple, and .c-red each having specificity 10. The one appearing last will apply.*

Calculation Example

• h1.yellow -> h1: 1 point, .yellow: 10 points → Total: 11 points.
• Combined selectors (e.g., a.red) add up their values.

Practical Examples

1. Inline Style Priority:
   • Example: style="color: blue;" applied directly to the tag will override other CSS rules.
2. ID Selector Priority:
   • Example: #example {color: red;} will have higher precedence over class selectors .example {color: red;}.
3. Attribute Selector:
   • Example: [data-example="true"] {color: green;} can target elements with specific attributes.
4. Using !important:
   • Example: .example {color: red !important;} will override inline styles as well.

Summary

• Use CSS selectors wisely based on their specificity levels.
• Aim for less specific selectors for easier maintenance and overwriting.
• Inline styles and !important should be used sparingly as they are hard to override.