The :first-of-type selector in CSS allows you to target the first occurence of an element within its container. It is defined in the CSS Selectors Level 3 spec as a “structural pseudo-class”, meaning it is used to style content based on its relationship with parent and sibling content. Suppose we have an article with a title and several paragraphs:
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The :first-child selector allows you to target the first element immediately inside another element. It is defined in the CSS Selectors Level 3 spec as a “structural pseudo-class”, meaning it is used to style content based on its relationship with parent and sibling content. Suppose we have an article and want to make the first paragraph larger – like
The ::first-line pseudo-element is for applying styles to the first line of an element. Imagine a paragraph that is several lines long (like this one!). ::first-line allows you to style that first line of text. You could use it to make it larger or set it in small-caps as a stylistic choice. The amount of text targeted
::first-letter is a pseudo element which allows you to style the first letter in an element, without needing to stick a <span> around that first letter in your HTML. While no tags are added to the DOM, it is as if the targeted first letter were encompassed in a<firstletter> tag. You can style that first letter as