In the realm of CSS3, a significant change was made with the introduction of the double colon notation. This modification aimed to differentiate between pseudo-classes and pseudo-elements in styling elements [CSS3 selectors spec]. An illustration of this difference is seen in how :active
indicates a state using a single colon, while ::after
signifies a part of content with a double colon.
An intriguing query arises: What technical consideration led to this discrimination being established? And more importantly, what specific problem does this distinction address?