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CSS Inheritance

like JS prototypal inheritance

<main style="color: black;">
  <p style="color: red;">
    Hello <span>World</span>
  </p>
</main>
class Main {
    color = "black";
}
class Paragraph extends Main {
    backgroundColor = "red";
}
class Span extends Paragraph {}
const s = new Span();
console.log(s.color);

initial, inherit, unset, revert

initial

  • Spec default
  • Not browser user agent stylesheet!

inherit

  • "Get the first ancestor who set this property"
  • Some elements inherit some properties by default
    • typography properties
  • Need to explicitly set inherit for everything else
    • anchor tag with href: doesn't inherit color
    • Height

unset

  • For a property that is inherited
    • (e.g. color)
    • it means inherit
  • for a property that isn’t inherited
    • (e.g. float)
    • it means initial
  • I don't know why you'd use unset when revert is nicer

revert

  • For a property that is inherited
    • (e.g. color)
    • it means inherit
  • For non inherited
    • Revert to User Agent browser default
      • example: display

Why don't form elements inherit styles?

  • button
  • input
  • select

Historical reasons

  • They're user interface elements
  • which were should look like the OS

Last update: 2023-04-24