If you’ve been writing JavaScript for some time now, it’s almost certain you’ve written some scripts dealing with the Document Objec

An Introduction and Guide to the CSS Object Model (CSSOM)

submited by

Style Pass

2024-04-23 21:30:03

If you’ve been writing JavaScript for some time now, it’s almost certain you’ve written some scripts dealing with the Document Object Model (DOM). DOM scripting takes advantage of the fact that a web page opens up a set of APIs (or interfaces) so you can manipulate and otherwise deal with elements on a page.

But there’s another object model you might want to become more familiar with: The CSS Object Model (CSSOM). Likely you’ve already used it but didn’t necessarily realize it.

In this guide, I’m going to go through many of the most important features of the CSSOM, starting with stuff that’s more commonly known, then moving on to some more obscure, but practical, features.

The CSS Object Model is a set of APIs allowing the manipulation of CSS from JavaScript. It is much like the DOM, but for the CSS rather than the HTML. It allows users to read and modify CSS style dynamically.

MDN’s info is based on the official W3C CSSOM specification. That W3C document is a somewhat decent way to get familiar with what’s possible with the CSSOM, but it’s a complete disaster for anyone looking for some practical coding examples that put the CSSOM APIs into action.