What happens when two element selectors in a CSS file target the same element?

Question

What happens when two element selectors in a CSS file target the same element?

Question A:
Given the example provided, what should one anticipate as the result for each of the major web browsers? Assume that all CSS is contained within a single file.

p {
      border:1px solid black
  }

.... further down in the same css .....

p { /* repeated element selector */
    font-size:20px
  }

Question B:
Would any of the outcomes change if the CSS was placed inside <style> tags instead of an external stylesheet?

Through my experience, I have noticed that many developers tend to create lengthy stylesheets with numerous selectors, leading to repetitive elements and varying styles being applied repeatedly.

html css

Answer 1

Answer №1

section A: The element p will have specific styles for both the border and font size. If you set these properties individually, it would look like this:

p{
    border:1px solid black;
    font-size:20px;
}

An issue arises when dealing with CSS snippets like the following:

p{
    border:1px solid black;
}
...
p{
    border:10px solid black;
}

In this scenario, the border property gets overridden! To preserve the "original" 1px border, you can use the "!important" CSS rule on the initial border declaration (e.g. border:1px solid black !important;

part B: Definitely not!

Answer 2

section A: The element p will have specific styles for both the border and font size. If you set these properties individually, it would look like this:

p{
    border:1px solid black;
    font-size:20px;
}

An issue arises when dealing with CSS snippets like the following:

p{
    border:1px solid black;
}
...
p{
    border:10px solid black;
}

In this scenario, the border property gets overridden! To preserve the "original" 1px border, you can use the "!important" CSS rule on the initial border declaration (e.g. border:1px solid black !important;

part B: Definitely not!

Answer 3

Answer №2

The outcome is as follows:

p {
 border:1px solid black;
 font-size:20px;
}

If you specify the same css attribute for the identical selector later, it will be overridden, like this:

p {
      border:1px solid black
      font-size: 12px;
  }

.... further down in the css .....

p { /* repeated element selector */
    font-size:20px
  }

Resulting in:

p {
 border:1px solid black;
 font-size:20px;
}

Edit: B: There is absolutely no distinction.

Answer 4

The outcome is as follows:

p {
 border:1px solid black;
 font-size:20px;
}

If you specify the same css attribute for the identical selector later, it will be overridden, like this:

p {
      border:1px solid black
      font-size: 12px;
  }

.... further down in the css .....

p { /* repeated element selector */
    font-size:20px
  }

Resulting in:

p {
 border:1px solid black;
 font-size:20px;
}

Edit: B: There is absolutely no distinction.

Answer 5

Answer №3

It is quite common to have multiple references to the same element in your stylesheets. This occurrence is frequent when dealing with separate style sheets for different aspects of a design or when utilizing a CMS with default and themed styles stored separately.

We often see websites combining all their stylesheets into one file to reduce server load during downloads.

As a result of these practices, it is not unusual for a single stylesheet to contain multiple repetitions of a tag, class, or ID. The good news is that CSS will handle duplicates as if they were combined. If you have identical styles specified in different declarations, the latter one will take precedence over the former. This behavior allows theme styles to override default CMS styles.

The only time this rule does not apply is when using the !important marker, which gives priority to the specific declaration marked as important over any others.

In response to part B of your question, no, the styles loaded externally via a CSS file are equivalent to those loaded inline within the main HTML page.

Typically, it is recommended to load styles from external CSS files most of the time because these files can be cached separately by the browser, reducing server workload when users navigate through different pages on your site.

Answer 6

It is quite common to have multiple references to the same element in your stylesheets. This occurrence is frequent when dealing with separate style sheets for different aspects of a design or when utilizing a CMS with default and themed styles stored separately.

We often see websites combining all their stylesheets into one file to reduce server load during downloads.

As a result of these practices, it is not unusual for a single stylesheet to contain multiple repetitions of a tag, class, or ID. The good news is that CSS will handle duplicates as if they were combined. If you have identical styles specified in different declarations, the latter one will take precedence over the former. This behavior allows theme styles to override default CMS styles.

The only time this rule does not apply is when using the !important marker, which gives priority to the specific declaration marked as important over any others.

In response to part B of your question, no, the styles loaded externally via a CSS file are equivalent to those loaded inline within the main HTML page.

Typically, it is recommended to load styles from external CSS files most of the time because these files can be cached separately by the browser, reducing server workload when users navigate through different pages on your site.

What happens when two element selectors in a CSS file target the same element?

Answer №1

Answer №2

Answer №3

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