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What is the difference between inline, internal, and external CSS?

The main difference between inline, internal, and external CSS lies in how and where the CSS is applied within the HTML document:

1. Inline CSS:

  • Location: Directly within an HTML element, inside the style attribute.
  • Usage: Used to apply a unique style to a single HTML element.
  • Example:
<p style="color: blue; font-size: 16px;">This is an inline styled paragraph.</p>
  • Advantages: Quick for small, specific styling.
  • Disadvantages: Reduces readability, harder to maintain, and not reusable.

2. Internal (Embedded) CSS:

  • Location: Within the <style> tag in the <head> section of the HTML document.
  • Usage: Used to style the entire page or a part of it.
  • Example:
    <head>
    <style>
    p {
    color: green;
    font-size: 18px;
    }
    </style>
    </head>
    <body>
    <p>This is an internally styled paragraph.</p>
    </body>
  • Advantages: Allows you to style a page without creating external files.
  • Disadvantages: Styles are only applied to that specific page, increasing file size and reducing maintainability across multiple pages.

3. External CSS:

  • Location: In a separate .css file that is linked to the HTML document using the <link> tag in the <head> section.
  • Usage: Used to apply styles across multiple HTML pages.
  • Example:
    html
    <!-- Link to external stylesheet -->
    <head>
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="styles.css">
    </head>

    styles.css file:

    p {
    color: red;
    font-size: 20px;
    }
  • Advantages: Reusable across multiple HTML pages, easier to maintain, and keeps HTML code clean.
  • Disadvantages: Requires an extra HTTP request to load the CSS file, though this is typically offset by caching.