Why Doesn\'t Overflow:hidden Work on Absolutely Positioned Nested DIVs Unless the Parent is Positioned Relatively?

Absolute Positioning and Overflow Hidden Conundrum

When dealing with nested DIVs, it can be challenging to enforce overflow hidden properties on the outer DIV if it's not positioned absolutely. This can lead to the inner DIV, which is positioned absolutely, disregarding the overflow hidden behavior.

Consider the following HTML structure:

<div>
<p>Where #first has an overflow hidden property and #second is positioned absolutely. In this scenario, #second will not respect the overflow hidden constraint.</p>
<p>To resolve this issue without setting #first to position absolute, consider the following solution:</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Position #first as relative:</p>
<pre class="brush:php;toolbar:false">#first {
  position: relative;
}

Keep #second positioned absolutely:

#second {
  position: absolute;
}

With this configuration, #second will now adhere to the overflow hidden property of #first. This allows you to maintain the desired layout while ensuring the inner DIV respects the overflow constraints.