Understanding display: inline vs display: inline-block with Examples

display: inline

• Elements are rendered as text-level elements. They are placed horizontally, one after another, and do not take up the full width of their container.
• They do not have margins or padding. Any specified margins or padding will be applied to the space between the text characters within the element.
• They cannot be given a width or height. Their dimensions are determined by the content they contain.

• Elements are rendered as text-level elements, but they can also be given a width and height. This allows for more control over their layout and dimensions.
• They can have margins and padding. These properties will be applied to the space around the element, not to the space between text characters.
• They can be floated or positioned. This gives you more flexibility in controlling their placement on the page.

Key Differences:

Example:

<div>
  <span>This is a span element with display: inline.</span>
  <span style="display: inline-block; width: 200px; height: 50px; background-color: lightblue;">This is a span element with display: inline-block.</span>
</div>

In this example, the first span element will be rendered as inline text, while the second span element will be rendered as an inline-block element with a specified width, height, and background color.

When to Use Which:

• Use display: inline when you want elements to flow horizontally like text and do not need to control their dimensions.

Understanding display: inline vs display: inline-block with Examples

When an element has a display: inline property, it behaves like a text character. It doesn't start on a new line and only takes up the space it needs. You cannot set its width or height.

<p>This is a paragraph with <span>inline</span> text.</p>

CSS:

span {
  display: inline;
  color: blue;
}

In this example, the <span> element will be displayed inline with the paragraph text and will be blue.

When an element has a display: inline-block property, it's similar to display: inline, but it allows you to set its width, height, and margins. It's like a block-level element that can be placed inline with other elements.

<p>This is a paragraph with <span>inline-block</span> text.</p>

span {
  display: inline-block;
  background-color: yellow;
  padding: 10px;
  width: 200px;
}

In this example, the <span> element will be displayed inline with the paragraph text, but it will have a yellow background, padding, and a specified width.

• Width and height: Only display: inline-block allows you to set width and height.
• Margins and padding: Both can have margins and padding, but display: inline-block applies them to the element itself, while display: inline applies them to the text within the element.
• Positioning: Both can be positioned, but display: inline-block offers more control due to its ability to set width and height.

Alternative Methods to display: inline and display: inline-block

While display: inline and display: inline-block are commonly used for controlling element layout, there are other methods that can achieve similar results:

Flexbox

• Advantages: Provides a flexible and powerful layout system for creating complex layouts.
• How to use: Set the container element's display property to flex and use flex properties like flex-direction, justify-content, align-items, and align-content to arrange child elements.

.container {
  display: flex;
  justify-content: space-between;
}

Grid Layout

• Advantages: Ideal for creating complex grid-based layouts with precise control over element placement.
• How to use: Set the container element's display property to grid and use grid properties like grid-template-columns, grid-template-rows, grid-template-areas, and grid-gap to define the grid structure and place elements within it.

.container {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: 1fr 2fr;
  grid-template-rows: 100px 200px;
}

Absolute Positioning

• Advantages: Provides precise control over element placement, but can be more complex to use.
• How to use: Set the element's position property to absolute and use top, right, bottom, and left properties to position it relative to its nearest positioned ancestor or the viewport.

.element {
  position: absolute;
  top: 10px;
  right: 20px;
}

Float Property

• Advantages: A traditional method for floating elements to the left or right of their container.
• How to use: Set the element's float property to left or right.

.element {
  float: left;
}