Understanding Cascading Style Sheets

Think of a cascading style sheet as a master control file whose job is to tell a Web browser how to draw the Web page it's been asked to open. Without such a beast, the browser—as programmed by the people who designed the software—may try to make certain decisions on its own with regard to how that page is ultimately displayed, and the results may not be pretty. The fonts may be different, the colors may look strange, and spacing and indentation can appear wild, depending on how the Web page was designed.

But the issue of style goes farther than that. Consistency of appearance is really important with a site. Without such consistency:

  • It often takes you unnecessarily long to design your site.

  • You run the risk ...

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