What does the “>” (greater-than sign) CSS selector mean?

492
votes

For example:

div > p.some_class {
  /* Some declarations */
}

What exactly does the > sign mean?

8
csscss-selectors

8 Answers

702
votes

> is the child combinator, sometimes mistakenly called the direct descendant combinator.1

That means the selector div > p.some_class only matches paragraphs of .some_class that are nested directly inside a div, and not any paragraphs that are nested further within. This implies that every element matching div > p.some_class necessarily also matches div p.some_class, with the descendant combinator (space), so the two are understandably often confused.

An illustration comparing the child combinator with the descendant combinator:

div > p.some_class { 
    background: yellow;
}

div p.some_class { 
    color: red;
}
<div>
    <p class="some_class">Some text here</p>     <!-- [1] div > p.some_class, div p.some_class -->
    <blockquote>
        <p class="some_class">More text here</p> <!-- [2] div p.some_class -->
    </blockquote>
</div>

Which elements are matched by which selectors?

  1. Matched by both div > p.some_class and div p.some_class
    This p.some_class is located directly inside the div, hence a parent-child relationship is established between both elements. Since "child" is a type of "descendant", any child element is by definition also a descendant. Therefore, both rules are applied.

  2. Matched by only div p.some_class
    This p.some_class is contained by a blockquote within the div, rather than the div itself. Although this p.some_class is a descendant of the div, it's not a child; it's a grandchild. Therefore, only the rule with the descendant combinator in its selector is applied.

1Many people go further to call it "direct child" or "immediate child", but that's completely unnecessary (and incredibly annoying to me), because a child element is immediate by definition anyway, so they mean the exact same thing. There's no such thing as an "indirect child".

47
votes

> (greater-than sign) is a CSS Combinator.

A combinator is something that explains the relationship between the selectors.

A CSS selector can contain more than one simple selector. Between the simple selectors, we can include a combinator.

There are four different combinators in CSS3:

  1. descendant selector (space)
  2. child selector (>)
  3. adjacent sibling selector (+)
  4. general sibling selector (~)

Note: < is not valid in CSS selectors.

enter image description here

For example: 

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
div > p {
    background-color: yellow;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>

<div>
  <p>Paragraph 1 in the div.</p>
  <p>Paragraph 2 in the div.</p>
  <span><p>Paragraph 3 in the div.</p></span> <!-- not Child but Descendant -->
</div>

<p>Paragraph 4. Not in a div.</p>
<p>Paragraph 5. Not in a div.</p>

</body>
</html>

Output:

enter image description here

More information about CSS Combinators

14
votes

As others mention, it's a child selector. Here's the appropriate link.

http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS2/selector.html#child-selectors

10
votes

It matches p elements with class some_class that are directly under a div.

5
votes

All p tags with class some_class which are direct children of a div tag.

5
votes

( child selector) was introduced in css2. div p{ } select all p elements decedent of div elements, whereas div > p selects only child p elements, not grand child, great grand child on so on. 

<style>
  div p{  color:red  }       /* match both p*/
  div > p{  color:blue  }    /* match only first p*/

</style>

<div>
   <p>para tag, child and decedent of p.</p>
   <ul>
       <li>
            <p>para inside list. </p>
       </li>
   </ul>
</div>

For more information on CSS Ce[lectors and their use, check my blog, css selectors and css3 selectors

4
votes
<div>
    <p class="some_class">lohrem text (it will be of red color )</p>    
    <div>
        <p class="some_class">lohrem text (it will  NOT be of red color)</p> 
    </div>
    <p class="some_class">lohrem text (it will be  of red color )</p>
</div>

div > p.some_class{
    color:red;
}

All the direct children that are <p> with .some_class would get the style applied to them.

0
votes

The greater sign ( > ) selector in CSS means that the selector on the right is a direct descendant / child of whatever is on the left.

An example:

article > p { }

Means only style a paragraph that comes after an article.