Why do I have to put media queries at the bottom of the stylesheet?

Question

I am new learning responsive design. What I have noticed on my journey is that when I put media queries at the bottom of the stylesheet, everything works flawlessly in regar

Answer 1

Media queries cascade with the rest of the stylesheet. You can intersperse media queries within your stylesheet, and so you can also cascade styles as needed.

For example:

.my-class {
    color: red;
}

.my-class--modifier {
    color: blue;
}

@media screen and (min-width: 760px) {
    .my-class--modifier {
        color: green;
    }
}

.some-other-class {
    width: 200px;
}

@media screen and (min-width: 760px) {
    .some-other-class {
        width: 700px;
        background-color: gray;
    }
    .some-other-class .my-class {
        border: 2px solid red;
        border-radius: 4pt;
    }
}

This works precisely due to CSS's cascading nature. You can organize media queries as required based on sections, individual selectors and more.

Answer 2

Basically you are using media queries when you want to apply CSS styles depending on a device's general type (such as print vs. screen), specific characteristics (such as the width of the browser viewport, or environment (such as ambient light conditions).

When you started designing, you generally started doing it for one device of known specifications. So you design it according to you current device and then apply it for other screen sizes.

Hence the order goes like this: Make complete design --> Add the media query to fit for desired screen sizes at the bottom.

Answer 3

It is preferrable to write the query at the bottom became of precedence. That will save you from stress of using important! everytime.

Answer 4

CSS is read from top to bottom. Everything that is below some other css will overwrite what's on top of it. It is possible however to use !important at the end of a CSS parameter to make it overwrite everything else

body{
    background-color: black !important;
}

body{
    background-color: pink;
}

The background-color will be black. If you remove the !important, it will be pink.

Answer 5

Because css is read from top to bottom. The rule that is set last, is the one that will be executed.

Translating, it is like this:

@media (max-width: 600px) { //If my screen fits this size
    .text {
        color: red; //Paint it red
    }
}

.text {
    color: yellow; //Now, forget about everything and paint it yellow!
}

When you add !important is like saying:

@media (max-width: 600px) { //If my screen fits this size
    .text {
        color: red !important; //Paint it red, and don't change it ever!!!
    }
}

.text {
    color: yellow; //Ok, I'm not going to paint it yellow....
}