How Does an Absolutely Positioned Div Affect Its Parent Container's Height?

Absolute Positioned Div Impact on Parent Height

When working with CSS, it's crucial to consider how elements' positioning affects their surrounding elements. One common challenge is ensuring that an absolutely positioned div doesn't ignore other elements within its parent container.

Consider the following HTML and CSS code:

<div>

parent { position: relative; width: 100%; }
child1 { width: auto; margin-left: 160px; }
child2 { width: 145px; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; }

The goal is to position child2 before child1, especially on mobile devices where navigation should be at the bottom. However, child2 has a dynamic height, which means setting a fixed height for the parent div is not an option.

Unfortunately, since absolutely positioned elements are removed from the flow, they are ignored by other elements within the parent container. Setting overflow:hidden on the parent div or using Clearfix won't help.

The Solution

As recognized in the problem statement, the solution lies in understanding that absolutely positioned elements are taken out of the flow. Therefore, it's not possible to set the parent's height based on an absolutely positioned element.

Options to Consider:

• Fixed heights: Assign fixed heights to both child elements to ensure proper layout.
• JavaScript: Involve JavaScript to dynamically adjust the positions of the divs based on child2's height.
• CSS flexbox or grid layout: These newer CSS techniques allow you to reverse the visual order of HTML elements within a parent container without using absolute positioning.

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