DEV Community

Tamilselvan K
Tamilselvan K

Posted on • Edited on

Day-12 How I Learned to Use CSS Transitions Today📘

#webdev #programming #html #css

Today, I dived into the world of CSS transitions, and I was excited to see how a small piece of code can make a website feel more smooth and interactive. In this post, I’ll share what I learned and how transitions work in CSS.

What Are CSS Transitions?

CSS transitions allow you to change property values smoothly (over a given duration) instead of instantly. For example, instead of a button changing color immediately when hovered, transitions let that color change happen gradually.

Basic Syntax

Here’s the basic syntax of a CSS transition:

selector {
  transition: property duration timing-function delay;
}
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • property: The CSS property you want to animate (e.g., background-color, width, transform)
  • duration: How long the transition takes (e.g., 0.5s, 1s)
  • timing-function (optional): The speed curve (e.g., ease, linear, ease-in, ease-out, ease-in-out)
  • delay (optional): The delay before the transition starts

Example: Button Hover Effect 

<button class="btn">Hover Me</button>
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode 
.btn {
  background-color: #4CAF50;
  color: white;
  padding: 10px 20px;
  border: none;
  transition: background-color 0.3s ease;
}

.btn:hover {
  background-color: #2E7D32;
}
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

When you hover over the button, the background color changes smoothly from green to dark green in 0.3 seconds.

Transitioning Multiple Properties

You can transition multiple properties like this:

.box {
  width: 100px;
  height: 100px;
  background-color: red;
  transition: width 0.5s, background-color 0.3s;
}

.box:hover {
  width: 200px;
  background-color: blue;
}
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Tips I Learned

  • Only animatable properties can be transitioned (e.g., color, background-color, transform, opacity, width, height, etc.)
  • Use transition: all if you want all animatable properties to transition — but use it carefully, as it can affect performance.
  • Combine transitions with pseudo-classes like :hover, :focus, or :active for better interactivity.

Final Thoughts

Learning CSS transitions opened my eyes to how much they can improve the user experience of a website. They're simple to use but make a big impact visually. I’m excited to explore more about animations using @keyframes and the animation property next!

Top comments (0)