What Are CSS Pseudo-Classes? Examples Included

What Are CSS Pseudo-Classes?

Pseudo classes in CSS are a powerful tool for styling elements based on their state or characteristics, rather than their actual HTML markup.

They allow you to create dynamic and interactive user interfaces, and can be used to change the styling of elements based on different user interactions.

:hover pseudo class

One of the most commonly used pseudo classes is :hover. This pseudo class allows you to change the styling of an element when the user hovers over it with their cursor.

For example, you can use :hover to change the background color of a button when the user hovers over it.

Here's an example of how you might use :hover to change the background color of a button:

button:hover {
    background-color: blue;
}

In this example, when the user hovers over the button element, the background color will change to blue.

:active pseudo class

Another commonly used pseudo class is :active.

This pseudo class allows you to change the styling of an element when the user is actively clicking on it.

This can be used to give feedback to the user that their action has been registered.

Here's an example of how you might use :active to change the background color of a button when it is clicked:

button:active {
    background-color: red;
}

:focus pseudo class

The :focus pseudo class is used to select an element that has focus, such as a form input that the user is currently typing in.

This can be used to change the styling of the input to indicate to the user which element they are currently interacting with.

Here's an example of how you might use :focus to change the border color of a text input when it is focused:

input:focus {
    border-color: blue;
}

:visited pseudo class

:visited is used to select links that have been visited by the user.

This can be used to change the styling of links to indicate to the user which links they have already visited.

Here's an example of how you might use :visited to change the color of visited links:

a:visited {
    color: purple;
}

:first-child and :last-child pseudo classes

:first-child and :last-child are used to select the first or last child element of a parent element.

This can be useful for adding special styling to the first or last item in a list, for example.

Here's an example of how you might use :first-child to change the background color of the first list item:

li:first-child {
    background-color: yellow;
}

Combining Pseudo Classes

Pseudo classes can also be combined with other CSS selectors to create more specific selections.

For example, you could use the :hover pseudo class in combination with a class selector to change the styling of a specific button when the user hovers over it.

.my-button:hover {
    background-color: green;
}

In this example, the :hover pseudo class is used in conjunction with the class selector .my-button to change the background color of only the elements with the class my-button when the user hovers over them.

Summary

Overall, pseudo classes in CSS are a powerful tool for creating dynamic and interactive user interfaces.

They allow you to change the styles of elements based on different user interactions, which will make the website more user-friendly and engaging.