CSS3 Animations and Transitions

Key Concepts

• CSS Transitions
• CSS Animations

CSS Transitions

CSS Transitions allow property changes in CSS values to occur smoothly over a specified duration. They are triggered by events such as hovering over an element or changing its class. Key properties include transition-property, transition-duration, transition-timing-function, and transition-delay.

Example:

        <style>
            .box {
                width: 100px;
                height: 100px;
                background: red;
                transition: width 2s, height 2s, background 2s;
            }
            .box:hover {
                width: 200px;
                height: 200px;
                background: blue;
            }
        </style>
        <div class="box"></div>
    

CSS Animations

CSS Animations allow more complex animations by defining keyframes that describe the start and end states of the animation. Key properties include @keyframes, animation-name, animation-duration, animation-timing-function, animation-delay, animation-iteration-count, animation-direction, and animation-fill-mode.

Example:

        <style>
            .circle {
                width: 100px;
                height: 100px;
                background: green;
                border-radius: 50%;
                animation: rotate 4s linear infinite;
            }
            @keyframes rotate {
                0% { transform: rotate(0deg); }
                100% { transform: rotate(360deg); }
            }
        </style>
        <div class="circle"></div>
    

Analogies

Think of CSS Transitions as a smooth change in a car's speed. When you accelerate, the speed increases gradually rather than instantly. CSS Animations are like a roller coaster ride, where the car moves through various stages (keyframes) from the start to the end of the track.

Conclusion

Understanding CSS Transitions and Animations is crucial for creating engaging and interactive web experiences. Transitions provide smooth changes, while animations offer complex, multi-stage movements. By mastering these concepts, you can enhance user interaction and make your websites more dynamic.