CSS is another thing you may learn just after understanding HTML. CSS stands for the cascading style sheets, which Hakon Wium Lie created in 1994. Hakon Wium Lie is considered the father of CSS as he created this amazing thing. And he used to work with the father of HTML, Mr. Tim Berners-Lee, when he was working in CERN.
CSS was offered as the web styling language to make it appealing. And it was the solution that most of the users of HTML were looking at that time. When it launched, the users could use HTML 4.01 and CSS together to make their web pages more attractive.
Hence, if you want to know about the history of CSS from its origin to now. Then read this essential article because it has several things that will help you understand CSS. You will also understand how CSS won over other styling languages of that time.
What Does CSS Stand For?
CSS is mainly used for web development or page design. It refers to the cascading style sheets that can format the web page layouts using many features. You can make text bold in CSS, style it, manage table size, and edit other aspects of the web pages to make them attractive. By using CSS, the user can give a uniform look to the website and its several pages. It does not only define the table but also meets other design needs of the website.
With the help of CSS, the user can make changes in several pages just at once. Suppose, if you need to make the text bigger of all the web pages, then by changing the font size in CSS, you can make the text size bigger. And there are many other things that you can do easily using cascading style sheets. And because of these features, CSS has become a crucial language for web design and development.
Origin of CSS
CSS came into existence in 1994, so it can provide a standard way to design the pages on the world wide web. And Mr. Lee developed a cascading style sheet for the same purpose. Because by this time, there was an immense demand for such a solution as HTML 4.01 was unable to give an appealing web page on its own. However, by seeing it, many people offered different styling sheets, but none of them succeeded as CSS. In its initial stage, it was primarily used for making websites accessible and appealing.
Brief History of CSS
Along with HTML, CSS is also standardized by W3C that controls the web standards. CSS is free to use, independent and it is also an open-source standard. And users can use HTML and CSS together with the W3C.
If we look at the history of CSS, we will find it has seen mainly three updates. CSS level 1 was launched in 1996, and it came again in 1999 with some improvements. However, CSS level 2 or CSS2 came in 1998 with media support. In this version, the user can utilize the other media elements. And finally, its latest version, CSS level 3, launched, and currently, we use this version only. The latest version of CSS allows us to take advantage of separation that helps in saving time.
If you need to make some critical changes on a large website with hundreds of pages. Currently, CSS comes with over 60 modules with different features. In recent years, most developers and designers have tried a variety of browsers to see the effects of CSS on web pages. But most of them found Firefox as the most helpful for the same concern.
History of CSS Versions
We have understood a brief introduction of CSS’s history and learned it has mainly three versions. So, now let’s discuss these three versions of CSS in more detail.
CSS 1
CSS 1 is the very first version of the cascading style sheet and recommendation of W3C. It was launched in 1996 with the capabilities of font properties. It is also used for adding color to the background and text side. In CSS 1, there were text alignment functionalities. It also has capabilities of padding, positioning, and generic classifications. But now, this version is outdated and not maintained by W3C.
CSS2
W3C developed the next version of CSS and named it CSS2, and launched it in 1998. It has more features and functionalities than the previous version. And now users could use new features like relative, absolute, and also fixed positioning. There were media types, and bidirectional text features were also there. This version also saw many revisions in the same, and updates came as CSS2.1.
CSS3
CSS3 is the latest version of CSS officially by W3C, and it was launched in 1999. It has a vast collection of font types, and you can use any font type from Google and Typecast. Also, this version is divided into many modules that make it easy to handle, and it also saves time formatting the web pages. Currently, most companies and organizations use CSS3 and HTML5 for their web development and designing tasks. Hence, if you also wish to learn such a skill, then make sure you will learn the latest launch of such technology.
Future of CSS
Earlier, we used to use only the primary website that has no visual effect. But after the launch of CSS, web design experts have taken this technology to the next level. Hence, without a CSS website would not look appealing and engaging to the users. Also, in the past, we have noticed many updates and changes in the same. Thus, in the future as well there can be some exciting updates. But currently, CSS3 is the latest version and allows users like us to add some creative elements to the web pages.
Conclusion
So, in this article, we learned about the history of CSS and understood how it developed. Moreover, we also learned about its critical versions that the world has noticed in the past. Thus, we hope now you have foundational knowledge about the history of CSS. Hence, if you need to learn something like this, then check our other articles as well.