Introduction to Flexbox

1. What problem Flexbox solve

Flexbox is a layout tool that solves the problem of positioning and aligning elements within a container in a flexible and efficient way. Prior to Flexbox, web designers often used a combination of floating elements and media queries to create a layout that adjusts to different screen sizes. This process could be time-consuming and complex, and it was difficult to achieve consistent alignment and spacing across different devices and screen sizes.

Flexbox provides an alternative solution that makes it easier to create flexible and responsive layouts. It provides a set of properties that allow you to control the arrangement of elements within a container, and it makes it easier to create flexible and responsive designs that adjust to different screen sizes.

Other alternatives to Flexbox include CSS Grid, which is a two-dimensional layout tool that provides more control over the positioning and arrangement of elements, and the float property, which allows you to control the flow of elements within a container. However, Flexbox is often the preferred choice for simpler and more flexible layouts.

2. How to enable Flexbox

To enable Flexbox, you simply need to set the CSS display property of an element to flex. This makes the element a Flexbox container, and its children become Flexbox items. Here’s an example:

.container {
  display: flex;
}

Once you’ve set the display property to flex, you can start using other Flexbox properties to control the layout of the items. For example, you can control the direction of the items using the flex-direction property, you can control the alignment of the items using the align-items property, and you can control the wrapping of the items using the flex-wrap property.

To enable Flexbox in TailwindCSS, you need to include the flex utility classes in your HTML elements. These classes are used to define the behavior of a flex container and its flex items.

Here is an example of how to create a flex container in TailwindCSS:

<div class="flex">
  <!-- flex items go herer -->
</div>

The flex class sets the display property of the element to flex, making it a flex container. Then, you can use other flex utility classes to define the behavior of the flex items, such as the direction of the flex container, the alignment of the flex items, and more.

Let’s take a look at an example of how to turn on the flexbox feature and see its effect on the layout.

By switching the display property from block to flex, you activate the Flexbox layout algorithm and this causes the container to change its layout from 3 rows to 3 columns.

Does it mean flexbox only display its item in horizontal way? No, flexbox is not limited to just displaying its items in a horizontal way. The flex-direction property in CSS allows you to control the flow of the items within the container, by specifying whether the items should be laid out in a row or in a column. This property can be set to either row or column and allows for a great deal of flexibility and control over the layout of the items in a flexbox container.