CSS Interview Questions For Freshers

1. What is the Box model in CSS? Which CSS properties are a part of it?
2. What are the advantages of using CSS?
3. What are the limitations of CSS?
4. How to include CSS in the webpage?
5. What are the different types of Selectors in CSS?
6. What is a CSS Preprocessor? What are Sass, Less, and Stylus? Why do
people use them?
7. What is VH/VW (viewport height/ viewport width) in CSS?
8. Difference between reset vs normalize CSS?. How do they differ?
9. What is the difference between inline, inline-block, and block?
10. How do you test the webpage in different browsers?
11. What is a Pseudo element? What is pseudo-class?
12. How do you specify units in the CSS?. What are the different ways to do it?
13. Does margin-top or margin-bottom have an effect on inline elements?

Advanced CSS Interview Questions

14. Explain CSS position property?
15. What does DOM reflow occur?
16. Different Box Sizing Property?
17. How to center align a div inside another div?
18. Can you name the four types of @media properties
Advanced CSS Interview Questions
19. What is the grid system?
20. What are the different ways to hide the element using CSS?
21. What does the :root pseudo-class refer to?
22. What does Accessibility (a11y) mean?
23. How do I restore the default value of a property?
24. Difference between CSS grid vs flexbox?
25. How does Calc work?
26. What do CSS Custom properties variables mean?
27. What is the difference between CSS variables and preprocessor(SASS,
LESS, Stylus) variables?
28. What does * { box-sizing: border-box; } do? What are its advantages?
29. What does important mean in CSS?
30. What is specificity? How to calculate specificity?
31. What is progressive rendering? How do you implement progressive
rendering in the website?. What are the advantages of it?
32. What are the advantages of using translate() instead of absolute position?
33. Does style1.css have to be downloaded and parsed before style2.css
can be fetched?
34. How to determine if the browser supports a certain feature?
What Is CSS?
CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheet. It’s a style sheet language that
determines how the elements/contents in the page are looked/shown. CSS is
used to develop a consistent look and feel for all the pages.
CSS was developed and is maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C). It was first released on December 17, 1996. The CSS Working group
currently working with different browser vendors to add/enforce the new
feature/ specifications in all the browsers.
CSS enables the separation of the content from the presentation. This
separation provides a lot of flexibility and control over how the website has to
look like. This is the main advantage of using CSS.
This article will walk you through the question that you could expect in a CSS
interview. The questions range from basic, intermediate, to advanced questions.

CSS Interview Questions For Freshers

1. What is the Box model in CSS? Which CSS
properties are a part of it?
A rectangle box is wrapped around every HTML element. The box model is
used to determine the height and width of the rectangular box. The CSS Box
consists of Width and height (or in the absence of that, default values and
the content inside), padding, borders, margin.
 Box Model In CSS

Content: Actual Content of the box where the text or image placed.
Padding: Area surrounding the content (Space between the border and
content).
Border: Area surrounding the padding.

Margin: Area surrounding the border.

2. What are the advantages of using CSS?

The main advantages of CSS are given below:

Separation of content from presentation - CSS provides a way to

present the same content in multiple presentation formats in mobile or
desktop or laptop.
Easy to maintain - CSS, built effectively can be used to change the look
and feel completely by making small changes. To make a global change,
simply change the style, and all elements in all the web pages will be
updated automatically.
Bandwidth - Used effectively, the style sheets will be stored in the browser
cache and they can be used on multiple pages, without having to download
again.
3. What are the limitations of CSS?
Disadvantages of CSS are given below:

Browser Compatibility: Some style selectors are supported and some are not.
We have to determine which style is supported or not using the @support
selector).
Cross Browser issue: Some selectors behave differently in a different
browser).

There is no parent selector: Currently, Using CSS, you can’t select a parent
tag.

4. How to include CSS in the webpage?

There are different ways to include a CSS in a webpage,
1 - External Style Sheet: An external file linked to your HTML document:
Using link tag, we can link the style sheet to the HTML page.

2 - Embed CSS with a style tag: A set of CSS styles included within your HTML page.

Add your CSS rules between the opening and closing style tags and write your
CSS exactly the same way as you do in stand-alone stylesheet files.
3 - Add inline styles to HTML elements(CSS rules applied directly within
an HTML tag.): Style can be added directly to the HTML element using a
style tag.

4 - Import a stylesheet file (An external file imported into another CSS file):
Another way to add CSS is by using the @import rule. This is to add a new CSS
file within CSS itself.

5. What are the different types of Selectors in CSS?

A CSS selector is the part of a CSS ruleset that actually selects the content you
want to style. Different types of selectors are listed below.
Universal Selector: The universal selector works like a wildcard character,
selecting all elements on a page. In the given example, the provided styles will
get applied to all the elements on the page.

Element Type Selector: This selector matches one or more HTML

elements of the same name. In the given example, the provided styles will
get applied to all the ul elements on the page.

ID Selector: This selector matches any HTML element that has an ID

attribute with the same value as that of the selector. In the given example,
the provided styles will get applied to all the elements having ID as a
container on the page.

Class Selector: The class selector also matches all elements on the page
that have their class attribute set to the same value as the class. In the given
example, the provided styles will get applied to all the elements having ID as
the box on the page.

Descendant Combinator: The descendant selector or, more accurately, the

descendant combinator lets you combine two or more selectors so you can be
more specific in your selection method.
This declaration block will apply to all elements that have a class of box that is
inside an element with an ID of the container. It’s worth noting that the.box
element doesn’t have to be an immediate child: there could be another
element wrapping
.box , and the styles would still apply.

Child Combinator: A selector that uses the child combinator is similar to a

selector that uses a descendant combinator, except it only targets immediate
child elements.

The selector will match all elements that have a class of box and that are
immediate children of the #container element. That means, unlike the
descendant combinator, there can’t be another element wrapping .box it has to
be a direct child element.
General Sibling Combinator: A selector that uses a general sibling
combinator to match elements based on sibling relationships. The selected
elements are beside each other in the HTML.

In this example, all paragraph elements (<p>) will be styled with the
specified rules, but only if they are siblings of <h2> elements. There could
be other elements in between the <h2> and <p> , and the styles would
still apply.
Adjacent Sibling Combinator: A selector that uses the adjacent sibling
combinator uses the plus symbol (+), and is almost the same as the general
sibling selector. The difference is that the targeted element must be an

immediate sibling, not just a general sibling.

The above example will apply the specified styles only to paragraph elements
that immediately follow other paragraph elements. This means the first
paragraph element on a page would not receive these styles. Also, if another
element appeared between two paragraphs, the second paragraph of the two
wouldn’t have the styles applied.
Attribute Selector: The attribute selector targets elements based on the
presence and/or value of HTML attributes, and is declared using square
brackets.
6. What is a CSS Preprocessor? What are Sass, Less,
and Stylus? Why do people use them?
A CSS Preprocessor is a tool used to extend the basic functionality of default
vanilla CSS through its own scripting language. It helps us to use complex
logical syntax like – variables, functions, mixins, code nesting, and inheritance
to name a few, supercharging your vanilla CSS.
SASS: Sass is the acronym for “Syntactically Awesome Style Sheets”. SASS can
be written in two different syntaxes using SASS or SCSS
SASS vs SCSS

SASS is based on indentation and SCSS(Sassy CSS) is

not. SASS uses .sass extension while SCSS uses .scss
extension.
SASS doesn’t use curly brackets or semicolons. SCSS uses it, just like the CSS.

SASS Syntax

SCSS Syntax

LESS: LESS is an acronym for “Leaner Stylesheets”. LESS is easy to add to any
javascript projects by using NPM or less.js file. It uses the extension .less.
LESS syntax is the same as the SCSS with some exceptions. LESS uses @ to define
the variables.
Stylus: Stylus offers a great deal of flexibility in writing syntax, supports native
CSS as well as allows omission of brackets, colons, and semicolons. It doesn’t
use @ or $ for defining variables.

7. What is VH/VW (viewport height/ viewport width) in

CSS?
It’s a CSS unit used to measure the height and width in percentage with
respect to the viewport. It is used mainly in responsive design techniques.
The measure VH is equal to 1/100 of the height of the viewport. If the height
of the browser is 1000px, 1vh is equal to 10px. Similarly, if the width is
1000px, then 1 vw is equal to 10px.
8. Difference between reset vs normalize CSS?. How
do they differ?
Reset CSS: CSS resets aim to remove all built-in browser styling. For example
margins, paddings, font-sizes of all elements are reset to be the same.
Normalize CSS: Normalize CSS aims to make built-in browser styling
consistent across browsers. It also corrects bugs for common browser
dependencies.

9. What is the difference between inline,

inline-block, and block?
Block Element: The block elements always start on a new line. They will also
take space for an entire row or width. List of block elements are <div>, <p>.
Inline Elements: Inline elements don't start on a new line, they appear on the
same line as the content and tags beside them. Some examples of inline
elements are <a>,
<span> , <strong>, and <img> tags.

Inline Block Elements: Inline-block elements are similar to inline elements,

except they can have padding and margins added on all four sides.

10. How do you test the webpage in different browsers?

It’s most important to test a website in different browsers when you’re first
designing it, or when making major changes. However, it’s also important to
repeat these tests periodically, since browsers go through a lot of updates and
changes.

11. What is a Pseudo element? What is pseudo-class?

Pseudo-classes select regular elements but under certain conditions like when
the user is hovering over the link.

:link
:visited
:hover
:active
 :focus
Example of the pseudo-class, In the below example, the color applies to the
anchor tag when it’s hovered.

A pseudo-element however allows us to create items that do not normally exist in

the document tree, for example ::after.

::before
::after
::first-letter
::first-line
::selection

In the below example, the color will appear only on the first line of the paragraph.

12. How do you specify units in the CSS?. What are the
different ways to do it?
There are different ways to specify units in CSS like px, em, pt, percentage (%).
px(Pixel) gives fine-grained control and maintains alignment because 1 px or
multiple of 1 px is guaranteed to look sharp. px is not cascade. em maintains
relative size. you can have responsive fonts. Em, will cascade 1em is equal to
the current font-size of the element or the browser default. If u sent font-size to
16px then 1em = 16px. The common practice is to set default body font-size to
62.5% (equal to 10px).
pt(point) are traditionally used in print. 1pt = 1/72 inch and it is a fixed-size unit.
%(percentage) sets font-size relative to the font size of the body. Hence, you
have to set the font-size of the body to a reasonable size.
13. Does margin-top or margin-bottom have an effect
on inline elements?
No, it doesn’t affect the inline elements. Inline elements flow with the contents of
the page.

Advanced CSS Interview Questions

14. Explain CSS position property?
Absolute
To place an element exactly where you want to place it. absolute position is
actually set relative to the element's parent. if no parent is available then the
relative place to the page itself (it will default all the way back up to the
element).
Relative
"Relative to itself". Setting position: relative; on an element and no other
positioning attributes, it will no effect on its positioning. It allows the use of
z-index on the element and it limits the scope of absolutely positioned child
elements. Any child element will be absolutely positioned within that block.
Fixed
The element is positioned relative to the viewport or the browser window
itself. viewport doesn't change if you scroll and hence the fixed element will
stay right in the same position.
Static
Static default for every single page element. The only reason you would ever set
an element to position: static is to forcefully-remove some positioning that got
applied to an element outside of your control.
Sticky
Sticky positioning is a hybrid of relative and fixed positioning. The element is
treated as relative positioned until it crosses a specified threshold, at which
point it is treated as fixed positioned.
 CSS Position Property

15. What does DOM reflow occur?

Reflow is the name of the web browser process for re-calculating the positions
and geometries of elements in the document, for the purpose of re-rendering
part or all of the document.
Reflow occurs when:

Insert, remove or update an element in the DOM.

Modify content on the page, e.g. the text in an input
box. Move a DOM element.
Animate a DOM element.

Take measurements of an element such as offsetHeight or

getComputedStyle. Change a CSS style.

16. Different Box Sizing Property?

The box-sizing CSS property sets how the total width and height of an element are
calculated.

Content-box: The default width and height values apply to the element's content
only. The padding and border are added to the outside of the box.
Padding-box: Width and height values apply to the element's content
and its padding. The border is added to the outside of the box. Currently,
only Firefox supports the padding-box value.
Border-box: Width and height values apply to the content, padding, and border.

17. How to center align a div inside another div?

Centering with table
HTML:

CSS:

Centering with
transform HTML:

CSS:
Centering with flexbox
HTML:

CSS:

Centering with grid

HTML:

CSS:

18. Can you name the four types of @media properties?

The four types of @media properties are:

All → It’s the default property. Used for all media-type

 devices. Screen → Used for computer screen, mobile
screen.
Print → Used for printers.

Speech → Used for screen readers.

19. What is the grid system?

CSS Grid Layout is the most powerful layout system available in CSS. It is said
to be a 2-dimensional system, meaning it can handle both columns and rows,
unlike flexbox which is largely a 1-dimensional system.

20. What are the different ways to hide the element using
CSS?
Using display property(display: none). It’s not available for screen
readers. The element will not exist in the DOM if display: none is used.
Using visibility property(visibility: hidden), will take up the space of the
element. It will be available to screen reader users. The element will actually
be present in the DOM, but not shown on the screen.
Using position property (position: absolute). Make it available outside the screen.

21. What does the :root pseudo-class refer to?

The :root selector allows you to target the highest-level “parent” element in the
DOM, or document tree. It is defined in the CSS Selectors Level 3 specification.

22. What does Accessibility (a11y) mean?

Accessibility refers to how software or hardware combinations are designed to
make a system accessible to persons with disabilities, such as visual
impairment, hearing
For example, a website developed with accessibility in mind might have text-to-
speech capabilities. In the USA public websites have to have accessible
compliance. It’s defined in 508 compliance. It gives the guidelines and best
practices for all website users that should be met with key areas of accessibility.

23. How do I restore the default value of a property?

The keyword initial can be used to reset it to its default value.

24. Difference between CSS grid vs flexbox?

CSS Grid Layout is a two-dimensional system, meaning it can handle both
columns and rows. Grid layout is intended for larger-scale layouts which aren’t
linear in design.
Flexbox is largely a one-dimensional system (either in a column or a row).
Flexbox layout is most appropriate to the components of an application.

25. How does Calc work?

The CSS3 calc() function allows us to perform mathematical operations on
property values. Instead of declaring, for example, static pixel values for an
element's width, we can use calc() to specify that the width is the result of the
addition of two or more numeric values.

26. What do CSS Custom properties variables mean?

Custom properties (sometimes referred to as CSS variables or cascading
variables) are defined by users that contain specific values to be reused
throughout a document. The value is set using -- notion. And the values are
accessed using the var() function.
27. What is the difference between CSS
variables and preprocessor(SASS, LESS,
Stylus) variables?
CSS variables can be used without the need of the preprocessor. Currently, all
the major browsers support the CSS variables.
CSS variable cascade. But the preprocessor variables don’t
cascade. CSS variable can be accessed and manipulated javascript.

28. What does * { box-sizing: border-box; } do?

What are its advantages?
It makes every element in the document include the padding and border in
the element’s inner dimension for the height and width computation. In
box-sizing: border-box, The height of an element is now calculated by the
content's height + vertical padding + vertical border width.
The width of an element is now calculated by the content's width + horizontal
padding + horizontal border width.

29. What does important mean in CSS?

The style is having the important will have the highest precedence and it
overrides the cascaded property.
30. What is specificity? How to calculate specificity?
A process of determining which CSS rule will be applied to an element. It
actually determines which rules will take precedence. Inline style usually wins
then ID then the class value (or pseudo-class or attribute selector), the universal
selector (*) has no specificity. ID selectors have a higher specificity than
attribute selectors.

31. What is progressive rendering? How do you

implement progressive rendering in the
website?. What are the advantages of it?
Progressive rendering is the name given to techniques used to improve the
performance of a webpage (in particular, improve perceived load time) to render
content for display as quickly as possible.
We can implement the progressive rendering of the page by loading the lazy
loading of the images. We can use Intersection Observer API to lazy load the
image. The API makes it simple to detect when an element enters the viewport
and take an action when it does. Once the image enters the viewport, we will
start loading the images.
A sample snippet is given below.
32. What are the advantages of using translate()
instead of absolute position?
Translate() does not cause the browser to trigger repaint and layout and
instead only acts on the compositor. The absolute position triggers the repaint
or DOM reflow. So, translate() gives the better performance.

33. Does style1.css have to be downloaded and parsed

before style2.css can be fetched?

No, the browsers will download the CSS in the order of its appearance on the
HTML page.
34. How to determine if the browser supports a certain
feature?
The @support in CSS can be very useful to scan if the current browser has
support for a certain feature.