Does embedded css always override external css?

Question

I had studied earlier that embedded CSS always overrides external css. But I found that whichever comes last in the code, those styles prevail.

Please see the follo

Answer 1

After all the rules of css, if there are 2 with the same specificity, the last one defined will take over.

For example, writing:

div { 
    background: green;
}


div {
    background: red;
}

Will turn it red regardless of the source.

Answer 2

Which CSS rules are applied depends on the specificity of the CSS rule, where that rule is placed, and the presence of !important. If two contradictory rules are placed, the rule declared later will overwrite the previous rule. If two contradictory rules are declared with selectors of varying specificity, the more specific styles will win, regardless of placement. If a rule is marked as !important e.g.

h1 {
  color: green !important;
}

the !important rule will always win.

For reference the list of specificity of CSS selectors goes like this (from most specific to least):

1. Style attributes
2. ID
3. Class, pseudo class, attribute
4. Elements

Answer 3

It doesn't matter if your stylesheet is within <style>-tags or externally and linked with <link />. The last one has always precedence, they could even be in the same external file, really just the order of the selectors and their specificities matter.

However, inline CSS using the style=".." attribute always has precedence, because it's most specific. To override that, you would have to use !important. Properties in style=".." using !important cannot be overridden.

Answer 4

It does not matter if it is embedded or not. styles are applied according to Cascading order