CSS Priority - determining the ultimate winner

I have an upcoming exam and I'm reviewing the previous exam paper that was given to me.

The question is:
When multiple style sheet rules are applied to the same element, which type of rule takes precedence?

a. Any declaration from the browser
b. Regular declaration from the user
c. Regular declaration from the author
d. Declaration at the document level

Would the answer be c or d? My guess is d because c seems like a normal declaration and not as significant, but I can't find a definitive answer anywhere.

Thanks

css

Answer №1

The solution is Document-level declaration. This technique involves applying styles to an element based on the declarations in the last linked stylesheet.

Example scenario

Markup:

<html>
    <head>
        <link href="style1.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
        <link href="style2.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
    </head>
    <body>
        <div>hello<!-- Text color will be green --></div>
    </body>
</html>

CSS files:

style1.css

div {
    color: red;
}

style2.css

div {
    color: green;
}

Answer №2

It appears that the exam question is flawed, which is not uncommon in such situations. The terminology used, such as "Document-level declaration," lacks clarity and can be interpreted in various ways. Additionally, the term "normal" is vague without a specific definition provided, although it seems to suggest the absence of !important.

Given the presence of an !important rule in option “a” from a browser style sheet, it may override options “b” and “c” (and potentially “d” if relevant), but asserting that option “a” universally takes precedence over the others would be inaccurate. There could be ambiguity surrounding the application of !important within browser style sheets.

It is possible that the person who created the exam overlooked the potential impact of an !important rule within a browser style sheet, leading to confusion regarding the correct answer, which might be interpreted as choice “c.”

Furthermore, the inclusion of option “d” might aim to mislead students since if it refers to a style sheet embedded in an HTML document, it falls under the category of an author style sheet, and the cascade rules are unaffected by whether the style sheet is embedded or linked.

Answer №3

Discussing the concept of CSS Cascading.

Exploring further with this reference

CSS stylesheets can originate from three sources: author, user, and user agent.

Understanding the hierarchy among them:

By default, rules in author stylesheets hold more weight than those in user stylesheets. However, priority shifts for "!important" rules. Both user and author rules carry more significance compared to UA's default stylesheet.

The cascading sequence is structured based on increasing precedence

user agent declarations
user normal declarations
author normal declarations
author important declarations
user important declarations

Later on, CSS specificity Rules also play a role.

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