How to Stretch a Flexible Child to Fill Container Height in Flexbox Without Setting a Fixed Height?

Stretching a Flexible Child to Fill Container Height

When working with Flexbox, it's crucial to understand the impact of setting height properties. Unlike traditional layouts, Flexbox handles height differently.

Issue:

In the provided example, goal is to stretch the yellow child div to fill the entire height of the parent container, without setting a fixed height for the parent. The parent's height should adapt based on the text content of the blue child div.

Mistake:

Typically, one might attempt to set height: 100% on the yellow child to achieve this effect. However, in Flexbox, this approach often fails.

Explanation:

When using height: 100% in Flexbox, the parent element (or a sibling in the case of row direction) requires a defined height, which is not always desired or possible, especially when relying on dynamic content. Additionally, height: 100% on multiple children within the same container can lead to unexpected results.

Solution:

The solution is surprisingly simple: remove height: 100% from the yellow child. By default, flex items in a row direction are stretched vertically according to the align-items property. Since its default value is stretch, the yellow child will automatically fill the height of the container.

Code Snippet:

<code class="html"><div style="display: flex">
  <div style="background-color: yellow; width: 20px"></div>
  <div style="background-color: blue">
    some<br> cool<br> text
  </div>
</div></code>

By removing height: 100%, the yellow child now stretches to match the height of the blue child and parent container, without affecting the dynamic height of the parent. This solution leverages the inherent mechanics of Flexbox to achieve the desired result.

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