What is CSS?

The above words "THIS IS CSS..." is not an image.

That's right... You read correctly. Those words are not an image but rather just plain text written in the HTML source code of this web page. To verify this, you can use your mouse pointer to click and drag across those words to select them and then copy and paste them into a text editor. If those words were an image, you wouldn't be able to do this.

So how is this done?

Well this is accomplished using the power of Cascading Style Sheets or CSS for short. If you've gone through a few tutorials on HTML and managed to slap together a few basic web pages, you've probably heard tell of this strange acronym by now. And you may be thinking... What is it? Do I need it? I just finished learning HTML. I'm done already! Don't tell me there's more!

Well yes, my friend, there is more (actually much more)... But believe me, if you loved working with web pages at the HTML source code level and all the fine control it offers then you'll absolutely adore CSS. But first let's get the lowdown on...

What Exactly is CSS?

Cascading Style Sheets —or what everyone calls CSS— is a web language that you can use in conjunction with HTML to endow it with many, many extra properties. Basically, CSS will turn your plain old HTML into a smorgusbord of special effects.

For instance, if you've ever wondered how to:

• Remove the underlining of hyperlinks
• Change the borders on text boxes in web page forms
• Make your web page background fixed in Firefox
• Set the margin around web pages to 0 (or anything you like)
• Apply padding to only one side of a table cell (or any block element for that matter)

...and more, then CSS is the right ingredient for you.

But wait a minute. Spicing up your web pages is not the whole kit and kaboodle on CSS. This stuff doesn't just taste good. It's actually good for you. Yes, there are some very practical reasons why you should use CSS...