Discover the Power of CSS Container Query for Responsive Design

Dec 05, 22

.

3 min read

illustration of large shipping containers

CSS container query is a powerful tool that allows developers to dynamically adjust the styling of a webpage based on the size and layout of its containers. This can be useful for creating responsive designs that look great on both desktop and mobile devices. In this blog post, we'll explore the basics of CSS container query, as well as some examples of how it can be used.

To begin, let's define what a container is. A container is an HTML element that holds other elements within it. Common containers include divs, paragraphs, and lists. Each container has a set width, height, and padding that will affect how the content inside it is displayed.

So what is CSS container query? It's a way of using CSS to adjust the styling of a page based on the size and layout of its containers. This allows developers to create responsive designs that are optimized for different screen sizes. For example, a web page might have two columns side-by-side on a desktop monitor, but when viewed on a mobile device, the columns may shift so that they stack on top of each other.

To use CSS container query, developers need to add a few lines of code to their HTML and CSS files. The code looks something like this:

@container query (min-width: 500px) {
 .container {
  float: left;
  width: 50%;
 }
}

This code tells the browser to adjust the styling of the .container element if the viewport is at least 500 pixels wide. If the viewport is narrower than 500 pixels, the browser will not apply the styling.

CSS container query can also be used to hide or show elements based on the size of the containers. For instance, a developer may want to hide a sidebar on smaller screens while still displaying it on larger screens. To do this, they can add the following code:

@container query (max-width: 500px) {
 .sidebar {
  display: none;
 }
}

Now, if the viewport is 500 pixels or less, the sidebar will be hidden. But if the viewport is larger than 500 pixels, the sidebar will be visible.

CSS container query can be a great way to create responsive designs that look great on all devices. By taking the size and layout of containers into consideration, developers can ensure that their web pages look great no matter what size screen they're viewed on.