Learn Css Grid: A Comprehensive Guide for Beginners

Learning CSS Grid is a game-changer for web developers. It allows you to create complex layouts with ease, and is a crucial skill to have in your toolkit.

CSS Grid is a two-dimensional layout system, meaning it can handle both rows and columns. This makes it perfect for creating layouts that are both flexible and responsive.

One of the key benefits of CSS Grid is its ability to handle grid items, which are the individual elements that make up your layout. By using the grid-template-columns property, you can define the number of columns and their widths.

By understanding how to use CSS Grid, you can create layouts that are both beautiful and functional. With its flexibility and power, it's no wonder that CSS Grid is becoming a popular choice for web developers.

CSS Grid is a game-changer for modern web development. With its two-dimensional structure, you'll be able to create complex layouts with minimal code.

Precise positioning and overlapping elements are just a few of the powerful features you'll learn to use.

You'll explore advanced techniques like container queries for adaptive components and subgrids for nested layouts. These will help you create layouts that are both beautiful and functional.

Through hands-on CodePen exercises, you'll apply these techniques to real-world projects and see the results for yourself.

Welcome to this course on learning CSS Grid! This is where we'll start from the very beginning, exploring how CSS Grid has revolutionized the way we design user interfaces.

CSS Grid is a two-dimensional grid-based layout system that completely changes the way we design user interfaces. It's a game-changer, and we're excited to dive in.

You'll learn about the history of page layout, from the early days when there was little CSS support to today's full support for CSS Grid and advanced layout features like container queries and subgrid. This will give you a solid understanding of how far we've come.

The course website is provided, and exercises will be coded in CodePen, so you can easily follow along and practice your new skills.

Here are some of the benefits of learning CSS Grid:

We'll also compare Grid and Flexbox, two powerful layout tools that work well together. By the end of this course, you'll be able to create complex layouts with ease and confidence.

CSS Grid Basics are a powerful layout system in CSS that allows you to transform elements into a grid framework of rows and columns for structured content placement. This layout system was introduced in 2017 and is now supported by most browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Opera.

To get started with CSS Grid, you need to define a container element as a grid with display: grid. You also need to set the column and row sizes with grid-template-columns and grid-template-rows, and then place its child elements into the grid with grid-column and grid-row. The source order of the grid items doesn’t matter, making it super easy to rearrange your grid with media queries.

Grid is one of the most powerful CSS modules ever introduced, allowing you to define the layout of your entire page and then completely rearrange it to accommodate a different screen width with only a couple lines of CSS.

Justify is a crucial aspect of CSS Grid, and it's used to control how grid items are aligned along the row axis.

The justify-items property is used on a grid container to determine how the grid items are spread out along a row by setting the default justify-self property for all child boxes.

There are four values for justify-items: start, center, end, and stretch. Start aligns grid items to the left side of the grid area, while center aligns them to the center. End aligns grid items to the right side of the grid area, and stretch fills the whole width of the cell.

You can also set alignment for individual grid items via the justify-self property, which has the same values as justify-items. This is useful when you want to override the default alignment set by justify-items.

Here's a quick rundown of the values for justify-self:

Justify-content is another property that's used to position the entire grid along the row or inline axis of the grid container. It's particularly useful when the total size of the grid items is smaller than the grid container.

The values for justify-content include stretch, which stretches the grid items to increase the size of the grid to expand horizontally across the container.

Auto-columns are a key feature of CSS Grid that allow you to automatically size grid items to one column when no classes are applied.

By default, grid items will automatically be sized to one column when there are no classes on the grid items (the immediate children of a .grid). This behavior can be mixed with grid column classes.

Here's an example of how auto-columns work:

Auto-columns can be useful when you want to create a simple grid layout without having to specify the exact number of columns.

Responsive design is all about making your website look great on any device. You can apply responsive web design techniques using either a mobile-first or desktop-first approach, depending on your development process.

Jen discusses two different approaches to website planning: Mobile-first and Desktop-first. Both methods can apply responsive web design techniques, but the best approach depends on the development process. Mobile-first excels when content planning is the primary task.

To create a responsive design, you can use media queries to adjust the layout for different screen sizes. For example, Jen codes a max-width media query to adjust the layout for screen sizes of 700 pixels or less. By placing the media query at the end of the stylesheet, any rules activated by the query will override the existing classes and styles.

A fluid columns snippet can also be used to create responsive design without media queries. Fluid width columns that break into more or less columns as space is available, with no media queries!

Here's a summary of the media query approach:

Responsive images are crucial in responsive design, as they need to adapt to different screen sizes and pixel densities.

The history of responsive images is complex, with many strategies for optimization. One of the strategies is to use the picture element, which was introduced to improve content purposes.

The picture element allows for the correct image to be loaded based on technical parameters like viewport size, pixel density, and aspect ratio. This is a significant improvement over previous techniques.

The srcset and sizes attributes are also used to load the correct image. The srcset attribute specifies the URL of the image, while the sizes attribute contains a media query with the conditions for when the images should be displayed.

Here's a comparison of the picture element, srcset, and sizes attributes:

The picture element can also be used to control the visibility of multiple images. For example, four different images can be specified, with the srcset attribute specifying the URL of each image and the media attribute containing a media query with the conditions for when each image should be displayed.

Fluid columns are a game-changer for responsive design. They allow your content to adapt to the available space, without needing to specify media queries.

In CSS, you can create fluid columns using the grid-template-columns property. This property specifies the number and width of columns in a grid container. For example, you can specify four columns with a width of 1fr each, where "fr" stands for "fraction" and represents an equal share of the available space.

If you want to repeat a pattern of columns, you can use the repeat() function. Instead of writing 1fr 1fr 1fr 1fr, you can write repeat(4, 1fr) to achieve the same result.

Here are some key facts to keep in mind when working with fluid columns:

By using fluid columns, you can create responsive designs that adapt to different screen sizes and devices. This means your website will look great on desktops, tablets, and smartphones, without requiring separate layouts for each device.

Grid properties are used to define the layout of a grid container. A grid item can span multiple rows or columns using properties like grid-column-start, grid-column-end, grid-row-start, and grid-row-end.

These properties can be specified individually, but there's a shorthand version called grid-area that combines all four in one. You can also use justify-self, align-self, and place-self to control the alignment of grid items within their cells.

Some properties have no effect on grid items, including float, display: inline-block, display: table-cell, vertical-align, and column-* properties.

Grid-template-columns is a property that defines the columns of a grid with a space-separated list of values. This list represents the track size, and the space between them represents the grid line.

Each value in the list can be a length, a percentage, or a fraction of the free space in the grid using the fr unit. The fr unit allows you to set the size of a track as a fraction of the free space of the grid container.

A grid line can have more than one name, and this can be useful when referencing specific lines. For example, the second line can have two names: row1-end and row2-start.

You can also use the repeat() notation to streamline your grid-template-columns definition. This can save you time and make your code more concise.

For instance, repeat(4, 1fr) is equivalent to 1fr 1fr 1fr 1fr. This is a handy function that allows you to specify multiple lines with the same size.

If you have multiple lines with the same name, you can reference them by their line name and count. This can be helpful when working with complex grids.

Here's a quick rundown of the fr unit:

Gaps are a crucial part of CSS Grid, allowing you to add space between grid items. You can think of it like setting the width of the gutters between the columns/rows. The gutters are only created between the columns/rows, not on the outer edges.

The gap property is a shorthand for row-gap and column-gap, making it easy to set both at the same time. It's also animatable, which can be useful for creating smooth transitions between different grid layouts.

If you want to change the vertical gaps only, you can modify the row-gap property. Note that you can have different vertical and horizontal gaps, which can take a single value (all sides) or a pair of values (vertical and horizontal).

Here are some examples of how you can use the gap property:

Remember, the grid- prefix is deprecated, but the unprefixed property is already supported in many browsers.

Justify-Content is a CSS property that helps you position the entire grid along the row or inline axis of the grid container. It's particularly useful when the total size of the grid items is smaller than the grid container.

You can use the value stretch to stretch the grid items and increase the size of the grid to expand horizontally across the container. This is a great way to make the most of the available space.

The value space-around includes an equal amount of space on each side of a grid element, resulting in double the amount of space between elements as there is before the first and after the last element. This can be a nice touch when you want to add some breathing room between your grid items.

On the other hand, the value space-between includes an equal amount of space between grid items and no space at either end. This can be a good option when you want to keep your grid items snug but still have some space between them.

Here are the possible values for justify-content:

By using justify-content, you can achieve a clean and professional-looking layout for your grid, even when the total size of the grid items is smaller than the grid container.

Column-Start is a property that determines where a grid item begins in the grid. It's a crucial part of creating a well-structured grid layout.

Grid-column-start can be specified using a line number, a named grid line, or the keyword "auto". For example, you can use a number to refer to a specific grid line, like "grid-column-start: 3", or a name to refer to a named grid line, like "grid-column-start: header".

You can also use the "span" keyword to specify how many grid tracks the item will span. For instance, "grid-column-start: 3 span 2" will make the item start at the third grid line and span two grid tracks.

If no grid-column-end is declared, the item will span 1 track by default.

Align Self is a property used to set how an individual grid item positions itself along the column or block axis.

By default, grid items inherit the value of the align-items property on the container, but if the align-self value is set, it will override the inherited align-items value.

The value start positions grid items on the top of the grid area.

The value center positions grid items on the center of the grid area.

The value stretch positions grid items to fill the grid area, which is the default.

Grid items can also be set to fill the whole height of the cell by using the align-self property with the value stretch, which is the default.

Here is a summary of the possible values for the align-self property:

The align-self property can be used to override the inherited align-items value, giving you more control over how your grid items are positioned.

Sizing functions are a crucial part of grid properties, allowing you to control the size of rows and columns with precision.

The fit-content() function is a game-changer, as it uses the available space, but never less than min-content and never more than max-content. This means you can create a grid that adapts to its container while maintaining a minimum and maximum size.

The minmax() function is similar, but it sets a minimum and maximum value for the length, which is useful when combined with relative units. For instance, you might want a column to shrink only so far, and this is where minmax() comes in.

The minmax() function requires a grid with a variable width, and if the maximum value is less than the minimum, the maximum value is ignored and only the minimum value is used. This is a key thing to keep in mind when using this function.

Here are some key facts about the minmax() function:

The grid-template-columns property allows you to specify the number and size of columns in your grid. You can use the repeat() function to create multiple columns with the same size, making your code more concise and easier to read.

With grid-template-columns, you can create a grid with four columns, each with a width of 1fr, or one fraction of the available space. This is a great way to create a responsive grid that adapts to different screen sizes.

Grid Layout is a powerful tool in CSS, allowing you to create complex layouts with ease.

Grid containers can have a maximum of 16 grid tracks, which are the horizontal or vertical lines that separate the grid cells.

Grid items can be placed anywhere within the grid container, and their size can be defined using the grid-template-columns and grid-template-rows properties.

You can also use the grid-auto-flow property to control how the grid items are placed within the grid container.

The container is the foundation of a grid layout, and it's essential to understand its role. It's the element on which the display: grid property is applied.

A grid container is the direct parent of all the grid items.

In CSS, a grid container is created by setting the display property to grid. This makes the element a grid container.

You can overlap cells in a grid layout by using the overlapping row and column technique. This technique allows you to place elements on top of each other, with the element appearing later in the HTML code appearing on top.

Jen uses this technique to make a figure's caption overlap the bottom part of an image, and to layout five planet images where the fifth image overlaps the four other images and is rotated to look like a diamond.

To overlap cells, you need to understand the concept of z-index, which determines the order of elements on top of each other. If you want an element to appear on top, you need to apply a higher z-index value to it.

Here's a summary of the overlapping row and column technique:

By mastering the overlapping row and column technique, you can create more complex and creative layouts with CSS Grid.

Grid Layout is a powerful tool for creating web page layouts. It allows you to organize items into rows and columns, making it easy to create complex layouts.

To get started, you can specify multiple rows using the grid-template-rows property. For example, you can use the values "auto auto auto" to create three rows.

The grid-template-rows property can also be written as repeat(3, auto) using the repeat() function. This is a shorthand way to specify multiple values.

You can use the grid-row property to specify a grid item's size and location within a grid row. This property is shorthand for the grid-row-start and grid-row-end properties, and it separates the starting and ending row values with a /.

You can use line numbers and named lines to define grid areas, which is a great alternative to using the grid-template-areas property.

Grid lines have both positive and negative numbers, which can be useful when you don't know how many lines there will be. For example, you can set an element to span all five columns with grid-column: 1 / -1.

The direction in which grid lines are numbered is affected by your layout's writing mode. This is something to keep in mind when working with grid layouts.

The span keyword can be used to tell an element to span a number of rows or columns. For instance, you can write grid-column: 1 / span 4 to tell an element to start at the first grid line and span across all of your four columns.

Here's a quick summary of how to use line numbers and named lines:

You can easily change the layout of your grid items without a lot of code refactoring. Just use the grid-template-areas property to redefine the layout.

With grid areas, you can remove a grid cell from one element and assign it to another. For example, you can remove a grid cell from the footer and assign it to the aside element. This is super easy and can be done by just specifying the new grid area.

You can even create an empty grid cell by using one or more periods. This can be useful when you need to add extra space to your layout.

To reorder your grid areas, you can use a media query to specify a different layout on small screens. For instance, you can stack your grid elements in a single column by using the auto-fit keyword.

Here are some key takeaways to keep in mind: