How many versions of CSS?

Answer 1

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a stylesheet language used for describing the presentation of documents written in HTML or XML. Over the years, CSS has seen several versions, each building upon the last to provide web developers with more features and better control over the styling of web pages. The journey began with CSS1, introduced in 1996, which laid the groundwork for web page styling, offering basic features like font styling, color definition, and spacing control among HTML elements. It was a huge step forward in web design, promoting the separation of content from presentation, which is a fundamental web development principle.

The advent of CSS2 came in 1998, which was a significant upgrade from CSS1. This version introduced new concepts like the box model, positioning, and table design, enhancing the ability of developers to create more complex and visually appealing web layouts. Furthermore, CSS2 brought about the z-index property, which allowed for layering of content, and the introduction of media-specific stylesheets, a feature that enabled the creation of styles tailored for different devices or screen sizes, like desktop and print.

However, CSS2 had its flaws, and the web community recognized the need for improvements leading to the release of CSS2.1. CSS2.1, finalized in 2011, was more of a refinement of CSS2 rather than an entirely new version. It fixed many errors present in CSS2, removed poorly supported or redundant features, and paved the way for CSS3 by including some of its features.

As the web continued to evolve, the demand for more advanced styling features grew, heralding the advent of CSS3. CSS3, unlike its predecessors, was divided into separate modules, each focusing on a different aspect of styling. This version introduced groundbreaking features like animations, transitions, and transforms, which enabled developers to create complex animations and visual effects without relying on JavaScript or flash. Moreover, CSS3 brought about new layout models like Flexbox and Grid, which revolutionized the way developers create web layouts, making it easier to build responsive and grid-based designs.

CSS3 also came with improved selectors, web fonts, and box-sizing properties, offering more control and flexibility in styling. The modular approach adopted in CSS3 allows for the ongoing development and addition of new features to CSS, without having to wait for a whole new version. Each module can be updated independently, allowing for faster and more incremental improvements to the language.

The evolution of CSS from its inception to the current version represents a continual effort to empower developers with better, more intuitive, and powerful styling capabilities. The journey reflects the ever-evolving nature of web technologies, adapting to the needs and demands of the global web community. Through each version, CSS has moved closer to the goal of providing a robust, feature-rich styling language that caters to the diverse, ever-changing world of web design.

Answer 2

As of 2014, there are 3 CSS versions.