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CSS How to Make a Website CSS: Cascading Style Sheets What is CSS?

Tobi Ogunnaike
Tobi Ogunnaike
2,242 Points
Posted by Tobi Ogunnaike
Tobi Ogunnaike
2,242 Points

How come this works without the correct syntax?

I typed

body { background-color: red }

i.e. without the semi-colon (;) after 'red'

and the background color changed to red? When is the semi colon necessary?

Thanks

1 Answer

yannverreault
yannverreault
12,599 Points

It is needed to separate your properties. Since you only have one property inside your declaration, it doesn't change anything. If you add more than one property inside your declaration, it wouldn't work.

You can test this by using this code:

body { background-color: red font-size: 16px }

You will notice that it's not functionnal.

To make sure, always use the semicolon.

Tobi Ogunnaike
Tobi Ogunnaike
2,242 Points
Tobi Ogunnaike
Tobi Ogunnaike
2,242 Points

thanks Yann, your explanation is very clear.