How to Select Elements Immediately Before a Given Element: Understanding ' ” (Plus) and '~” (Tilde) Adjacent Sibling Selectors in CSS?

Adjacent Sibling Selectors: Understanding the Difference Between div p (Plus) and div ~ p (Tilde)

When working with CSS selectors, it's essential to grasp the distinction between the div p (plus) and div ~ p (tilde) selectors. While they sound similar, their implications differ significantly.

div p (Plus) Selector

The div p selector selects all

elements that are immediately placed after

elements. This means that the

elements must be the direct siblings of the preceding

elements.

div ~ p (Tilde) Selector

Unlike the div p selector, the div ~ p selector selects all

elements that are preceded by

elements. This includes not only the direct siblings but also any other

elements that come after any

element in the document tree.

Choosing the Right Selector

To address your query regarding selecting elements placed immediately before a given element, you should use the following syntax:

E1 E2

This selector matches elements E2 that are immediately preceded by elements E1. In your case, you would use div p to select

elements that are adjacent and preceding

elements.

Example

Consider the following HTML and CSS code:

<code class="html"><div id="container">
    <ul>
        <li>List Item</li>
        <li>List Item</li>
        <li>List Item</li>
        <li>List Item</li>
    </ul>
    <p>This will be red</p>
    <p>This will be black</p>
    <p>This will be black</p>
</div></code>

<code class="css">ul + p {
    color: red;
}</code>

In this example, only the

element that is immediately preceded by the

element will have red text. This is because the ul p selector only matches direct siblings.

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