[css] What does the ">" (greater-than sign) CSS selector mean?

For example:

div > p.some_class {
  /* Some declarations */
}

What exactly does the > sign mean?

This question is related to css css-selectors

The answer is


The greater sign ( > ) selector in CSS means that the selector on the right is a direct descendant / child of whatever is on the left.

An example:

article > p { }

Means only style a paragraph that comes after an article.


html
<div>
    <p class="some_class">lohrem text (it will be of red color )</p>    
    <div>
        <p class="some_class">lohrem text (it will  NOT be of red color)</p> 
    </div>
    <p class="some_class">lohrem text (it will be  of red color )</p>
</div>
css
div > p.some_class{
    color:red;
}

All the direct children that are <p> with .some_class would get the style applied to them.


As others mention, it's a child selector. Here's the appropriate link.

http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS2/selector.html#child-selectors


It matches p elements with class some_class that are directly under a div.


( child selector) was introduced in css2. div p{ } select all p elements decedent of div elements, whereas div > p selects only child p elements, not grand child, great grand child on so on.

<style>
  div p{  color:red  }       /* match both p*/
  div > p{  color:blue  }    /* match only first p*/

</style>

<div>
   <p>para tag, child and decedent of p.</p>
   <ul>
       <li>
            <p>para inside list. </p>
       </li>
   </ul>
</div>

For more information on CSS Ce[lectors and their use, check my blog, css selectors and css3 selectors


All p tags with class some_class which are direct children of a div tag.


> (greater-than sign) is a CSS Combinator.

A combinator is something that explains the relationship between the selectors.

A CSS selector can contain more than one simple selector. Between the simple selectors, we can include a combinator.

There are four different combinators in CSS3:

  1. descendant selector (space)
  2. child selector (>)
  3. adjacent sibling selector (+)
  4. general sibling selector (~)

Note: < is not valid in CSS selectors.

enter image description here

For example:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
div > p {
    background-color: yellow;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>

<div>
  <p>Paragraph 1 in the div.</p>
  <p>Paragraph 2 in the div.</p>
  <span><p>Paragraph 3 in the div.</p></span> <!-- not Child but Descendant -->
</div>

<p>Paragraph 4. Not in a div.</p>
<p>Paragraph 5. Not in a div.</p>

</body>
</html>

Output:

enter image description here

More information about CSS Combinators