What is CSS3? What's new and different from traditional CSS?

 The latest version of CSS is CSS3 with new features and improvements compared to the traditional version. If you are also interested in CSS3 and wondering which version to choose between CSS3 and the traditional version, follow the following article of  TipsMake .

What is CSS3?

CSS3 is the latest version of the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) styling language, with many new features and improvements compared to previous versions, especially CSS2. This CSS styling language helps web developers design websites, control the interface and user experience.

What is CSS3?

Useful Features of CSS3

Selector

CSS3 expands the ability to select elements on a web page with a variety of new selectors, allowing developers to target more specific elements:

1. Attribute selector starting with value: [attribute^=value] - Selects all elements with an attribute starting with "value".

2. Attribute selector ending with value: [attribute$=value] - Selects all elements with an attribute ending with "value".

3. Attribute selector containing value: [attribute*=value] - Selects all elements with an attribute containing "value" at any position

Color in CSS3

Color in CSS3 is expanded with 147 new keywords and supports methods like HSL, HSLA and RGBA. One highlight in this latest version of CSS is the ability to declare semi-transparent colors.

Border Radius

CSS3 added a border-radius feature, which allows you to create rounded corners without using images or additional markup. For example: border-radius: 20px;

Drop Shadows

In CSS3, there is a feature to add shadows to images. Programmers will not have to create those images but instead just use the box-shadow property. To use this property, users need to specify the color, height, width, blur and offset of the object they want to drop a shadow on. 

Text Shadow

The Text-Shadow feature is used to add shadows to characters. to create a highlight effect for the text. For example: text-shadow: topOffset leftOffset blurRadius color;

Linear Gradients and Radial Gradients 

CSS3 supports linear-gradient and radial-gradient creation, making it easy to create rich backgrounds without images.

Multiple Background Images

With CSS3, developers can add one or more background images to any type of element, including pseudo-elements.

How is CSS3 different from CSS?

How is CSS3 different from CSS?

Who is suitable to use CSS3?

1. Beginner web designers: These people should start with basic HTML before moving on to CSS3. Having a good grasp of HTML will help them better understand how CSS3 interacts with the structure of a website.

2. Experienced web developers: Developers who are familiar with basic HTML and CSS can learn CSS3 to enhance their skills, allowing them to create more modern and attractive websites.

3. Graphic Designers: People who work in the field of graphic design and want to expand their skills to web design should also learn CSS3. This technology helps them create more beautiful and creative websites.

4. People who want to improve their web design skills: Anyone who is interested in improving their web design and development skills can learn about CSS3. Using CSS3 will not only help them create impressive websites but also open up many career opportunities in the field of web development.

The need to use CSS3 in the future

The demand for CSS3 will continue to increase strongly in the future thanks to the outstanding benefits that this technology brings. With features such as flexbox, grid layout, and animations, developers can design interactive and responsive websites more easily, helping to improve user experience, optimize website performance, especially in the context of more and more people using mobile devices to access the internet. New features in CSS3 also help to reduce redundant HTML code, thereby improving SEO and visibility across different types of browsers137.

In addition, the continuous development of web technologies such as HTML5 and JavaScript will promote the adoption of CSS3 in web development projects. Designers and programmers will need to master CSS3 to meet the increasing demand for user-friendly interfaces and cross-platform compatibility. CSS3 will play an important role in creating richer and more engaging online experiences.

Conclude

CSS3 is a big step forward in web development, bringing many new features and more powerful capabilities than traditional CSS. Hopefully this article has helped you better understand what CSS3 is, the difference between CSS3 and the traditional version.

David Pac

Update 25 February 2025