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Calin Baenen
Calin Baenen

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What's the difference between CSS `s1 s2 {}` and `s1 > s2 {}`, and how do they cascade?

#css #webdev #help

So, I tried both .no-markers ::marker and .no-markers > ::marker and did:

<ul class="no-markers">
    <li>One</li>
    <li>Two</li>
    <li>Three</li>
</ul>
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And they both removed the markers from the list.
So, my first question is "Do any nested elements, so long as somewhere down the line they are in a .selector mean that that element gets that style?".
And, I thought s1 > s2 styled elements directly under s1, so, logically, my second question is "What's the difference between s1 s2 and s1 > s2?".

Thanks!
Cheers!

Top comments (9)

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endymion1818 profile image
Ben Read •

s1 s2 {…} will select any child of s1, where as s1 > s2 {…} will select only direct children.

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calinzbaenen profile image
Calin Baenen •

Then how come s1 > s2 still removed the ::markers from the li despite no-markers being applied to the ul?

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endymion1818 profile image
Ben Read •

Because of the space between the declarations. Take a look at this for a comparison. codepen.io/endymion1818/pen/WNMMpwO

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calinzbaenen profile image
Calin Baenen • • Edited

But there's no > there.
Or is that only required when two tag selectors need to be disambiguated?

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endymion1818 profile image
Ben Read • • Edited

Yes you're close, the space signifies selecting a child in this case.

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gabrielpedroza profile image
Gabriel Pedroza •

s1 s2 selects all the child(s) of s1.

So anything that is nested in s1 that is an s2 will be selected

s1 > s2 selects the direct child(s) of s1.

So anything that is directly nested and is a child of s1 and is an s2 will be selected

In your example, it would not make a difference which one you chose because you only have direct children in your

    element. If you had something like 
<ul>
  <li></li>
  <li></li>
  <li>
    <li>(Nested list item so this means it is not a direct child of the <ul> element)If using ul > li, this **would not** be selected. If using ul li, this **would be** selected</li>
  </li>
</ul>
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calinzbaenen profile image
Calin Baenen •

Alright.
As I told someone else, I was just simply fooled by Chrome's dev console, which straight up lies.
Example of Chrome saying raw `::marker` endraw s exist inside raw `li` endraw s.

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calinzbaenen profile image
Calin Baenen •

Speaking of CSS, I think DEV needs a CSS check. . .

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calinzbaenen profile image
Calin Baenen • • Edited

Huh. That's weird.
According to the Chrome console it looked like the ::marker elements were children of the li, and I somewhat believed that because no markers appear when there are no list items.
Would you know anything about this?

Thanks for your help.

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