What is the meaning of the hover element?

In CSS, the "hover" pseudo-class is used to select and style an element when the user's pointer (such as a mouse cursor) hovers over it. The styles applied to the element when it is in a hovered state are typically different from the styles when the element is in its normal state.

For example, a link on a webpage may be displayed with a certain color when it is in its normal state, and when the user hovers over the link with their cursor, the color of the link may change to indicate to the user that it is clickable. Or a button may have an initial background color and when user hover over it, the background color may change to give a hover effect.

The hover pseudo-class can be used with various elements, including links, buttons, and other HTML elements. When used in conjunction with other CSS selectors, it can provide a rich interactive experience for users.

It's worth noting that hover state is also known as rollover state.

You can define hover style by using the :hover CSS pseudo-class.

Example:

a:hover {

  color: blue;

}

This will change the color of any link(<a>) to blue when hovered over.

It's important to keep in mind that hover states may not be available on some devices (such as touch screen devices) and alternate means of interaction should be provided for those cases.

In addition to the basic usage, you can use the hover pseudo-class in combination with other selectors, classes and ids, to select a specific element or group of elements. You can also use it in conjunction with other CSS pseudo-classes such as :active and :focus to create more complex interactions.

Here are a few examples:

You can use hover on parent element to affect children element, like:

.container:hover > *{

 background-color: blue;

}

This will change the background color of all children elements inside a container element when the container element is hovered over.

You can use hover along with the :before and :after pseudo-elements to create interesting effects on the element, like:

.btn:hover:before {

  content: "";

  position: absolute;

  top: 0;

  left: 0;

  width: 100%;

  height: 100%;

  background: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.3);

  z-index: -1;

}

This will create a transparent white overlay on the button when hovered over.

You can also use the hover pseudo-class to style different elements based on the state of another element, like:

input:hover ~ label {

  color: blue;

}

This will change the color of the label associated with an input element to blue when the input element is hovered over.

In summary, the hover pseudo-class is a powerful tool in CSS that can be used to create rich interactive experiences for users. It can be used on its own or in combination with other selectors, classes, ids, pseudo-classes, and pseudo-elements to achieve a wide range of effects. It's important to keep in mind that the hover state might not be available on some devices and provide alternative means of interaction for those cases.