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CSS Sass Basics (retired) Variables, Mixins, and Extending Selectors Introducing Mixins

vickiecomrie
vickiecomrie
3,248 Points
Posted by vickiecomrie
vickiecomrie
3,248 Points

What's the difference between the selectors background: and background-color: , and when should either be used?

I almost always use background-color: so I'm assuming that background: is a selector 'stack' where you could put other stuff like a background image and stuff. Reason I'm asking is that I just got an answer wrong in a code challenge when it asked to make the background #369 I wrote background-color: #369 and it said that was wrong.

index.html 
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <title>Sass Basics - Code Challenge</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="page-style.css">
  <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css">
</head>
<body>
  <h1>Hampton's Blog</h1>
  <div class="entry">
    <h1>Great Music</h1>
      <div class="content">
        <p>
            Here are some of my favorite bands from years past and present: Belle and Sebastian, Pixies, and Daft Punk. Listening to music allows me to focus when I'm programming. 
        </p>
        <a href="#">Read More</a>
    </div>
  </div>
</body>
</html>
style.scss 
/* Write your SCSS code below. */
@mixin button {
  background: #369;
  color: white;
  }

1 Answer

Isaac Asante
Isaac Asante
4,752 Points
Isaac Asante
Isaac Asante
4,752 Points

You can look at it this way:

background is the background shorthand property that can set all the background properties in one declaration (color, position, size, repeat, origin, attachment and image).

background-color is the property that only allows you to set the color of a background. You can use a HEX value (like "#ff0000"), an RGB value like "rgb(255,0,0)", or a color name.

You're free to use any of them whenever you want. Keep in mind that background is a shorthand, and background-color is specific. So that's it!