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CSS CSS Basics (2014) The Box Model Display Values

Enemuo Felix
Enemuo Felix
1,895 Points

Display property

What's the difference between inline and inline-block property apart from the fact that the former can't respond to margin value? An explanation with an actual code will be very much appreciated

1 Answer

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,275 Points

Other than top and bottom margins & paddings, the major difference is that "inline" elements are "flowed" and have no specific dimensions, where "inline-block" elements can have a specific width and height on the element.

Here's a code example:

code.html
Here is an example of an <span class="flow">inline</span> element,
and here is an example of an <span class="box">inline-block</span> element.
style.css
.flow {
  display: inline; /* the default for span */
  width: 100px;    /* these dimensions will be ignored */
  height: 100px;
  background: skyblue;
}
.box {
  display: inline-block;
  width: 100px;    /* these dimensions will be used */
  height: 100px;
  background: skyblue;
}