How to select the first element of a class within a container using CSS?

CSS Selector to Select First Element of a Given Class

In web development, selecting specific elements on a web page is crucial for styling and functionality. One common task is selecting the first occurrence of an element with a particular class within a broader hierarchy.

Consider a scenario where you need to select the first element with class 'A' within an element with id or class 'B'. While the combination of '>' and 'first-child' selectors can work in some cases, it fails when the position of the 'A' element varies within the 'B' element hierarchy.

CSS3 Solution: :first-of-type

CSS3 offers a solution through the :first-of-type pseudo-class, which allows you to select the first element of a specified type in relation to its siblings. However, CSS3 does not include a :first-of-class pseudo-class.

Workaround Using the General Sibling Combinator (~)

As a workaround, you can use the general sibling combinator (~) in conjunction with CSS overrides to achieve the desired result. The ~ selector matches any element that is a sibling of the element selected by the left-hand selector, but not a direct child.

Consider this rule:

.C > * > .A {
    /* Style every .A that's a grandchild of .C */
}

This rule selects every element with class 'A' that is a grandchild of an element with class 'C'. It assumes that '.C' is a common ancestor of all the 'A' elements you want to style.

Next, add an overriding rule:

.C > * > .A ~ .A {
    /* Style only the .A elements following the first .A child of each element that's a child of .C */
}

This rule uses the ~ selector to target only those 'A' elements that come after a previous 'A' element with the same parent. It effectively overrides the styles applied by the first rule.

Example:

Consider the following HTML structure:

<div>

The above CSS rules will apply styles as follows:

• Elements [1] do not have class 'A' and are not affected.
• Elements [2] are the first 'A' elements within their respective parent elements and will receive the styles defined in the first rule.
• Elements [3] are not the first 'A' elements and will receive the styles defined in the overriding rule, which override the first rule.

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