CSS Flexbox

5 min readNov 29, 2020

CSS Flexbox Module in CSS to easily align elements in different directions and orders. Flexbox is to give the container the ability to expand and shrink elements to best use all the available space. CSS Flexbox Layout replaces float layout. It is a new way to build one-dimensional layouts.

Create a FlexBox Container

1.The first step towards creating a flexbox is to create a flex container, the child elements within this container automatically turn flex.

2. To effect this, you need to use the display property. It has two values to create a flex.

flex: To create a box level flex container

inline-flex: To create an inline flex container

style>
        #flex-Contain{
        display: -webkit-flex; 
        display: flex;
        }
</style>

Control the flow within in Flex Container: flex-direction

1. CSS3 flexbox property flex-direction is used to set the direction of the main axis.

2. The flex items can be laid out in rows or columns, the order can be both forward and reverse. The values possible are as follows

row: It's the main axis, the direction is the same as that of the current language

row-reverse: The direction of the main axis is the reverse of the row.

column: Runs the main axis in the same direction as blocks are laid out.

column-reverse: The direction of the main axis is the reverse of the column

<style>
        #flex-contain {
        display: -webkit-flex;
        display: flex;
        -webkit-flex-direction: column-reverse;
        flex-direction: column-reverse;
        border: 4px solid grey;
        width: 500px;
        transition-duration: 2s;
        -webkit-transition-duration:2s;
        }
</style>

Justify-Content

This defines the alignment along the main axis. It helps distribute extra free space leftover when either all the flex items on a line are inflexible, or are flexible but have reached their maximum size. It also exerts some control over the alignment of items when they overflow the line.

flex-start (default): items are packed toward the start of the flex-direction.
flex-end: items are packed toward the end of the flex-direction.
start: items are packed toward the start of the writing-mode direction.
end: items are packed toward the end of the writing-mode direction.
left: items are packed toward the left edge of the container, unless that doesn’t make sense with them, then it behaves like start.
right: items are packed toward the right edge of the container unless that doesn’t make sense with the flex-direction, then it behaves like start.
center: items are centered along the line.
space-between: items are evenly distributed in the line; the first item is on the start line, the last item on the end line.
space-around: items are evenly distributed in the line with equal space around them. Note that visually the spaces aren’t equal, since all the items have equal space on both sides. The first item will have one unit of space against the container edge, but two units of space between the next item because that next item has its own spacing that applies.
space-evenly: items are distributed so that the spacing between any two items (and the space to the edges) is equal.

<html>
<head>
<style>
.flex-container {
        display: -webkit-flex;
        display: flex;
        -webkit-justify-content: space-around;
        justify-content: space-around;
        width: 400px;
        height: 200px;
        background-color: lightpink;
        }
        .flex-item {
        background-color: brown;
        width: 100px;
        height: 100px;
        margin: 10px;
        }
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="flex-container">
<div class="flex-item">flex item 1</div>
<div class="flex-item">flex item 2</div>
<div class="flex-item">flex item 3</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>

Align-Items

This defines the default behavior for how flex items are laid out along the cross axis on the current line. Think of it as the justify-content version for the cross-axis (perpendicular to the main axis).

stretch (default): stretch to fill the container (still respect min-width/max-width).
flex-start / start / self-start: items are placed at the start of the cross axis. The difference between these is subtle and is about respecting the flex-direction rules or the writing-mode rules.
flex-end / end / self-end: items are placed at the end of the cross axis. The difference again is subtle and is about respecting flex-direction rules vs. writing-mode rules.
center: items are centered in the cross-axis.
baseline: items are aligned such as their baselines align.

<html>
<head>
<style>  
.flex-container {
        display: -webkit-flex;
        display: flex;
        -webkit-align-items: flex-start;
        align-items: flex-start;
        width: 400px;
        height: 200px;
        background-color: lightpink;
        }
        .flex-item {
        background-color: brown;
        width: 100px;
        margin: 10px;
        }
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="flex-container">
<div class="flex-item">flex item 1</div>
<div class="flex-item">flex item 2</div>
<div class="flex-item">flex item 3</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>

Flex-Wrap

flex items will all try to fit onto one line. You can change that and allow the items to wrap as needed with this property.

nowrap (default): all flex items will be on one line.
wrap: flex items will wrap onto multiple lines, from top to bottom.
wrap-reverse: flex items will wrap onto multiple lines from bottom to top.

<html>
<head>
<style>  
.flex-container {
        display: -webkit-flex;
        display: flex;
        -webkit-flex-wrap: wrap-reverse;
        flex-wrap: wrap-reverse;
        width: 300px;
        height: 250px;
        background-color: lightpink;
        }
        .flex-item {
        background-color: brown;
        width: 100px;
        height: 100px;
        margin: 10px;
        }
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="flex-container">
<div class="flex-item">flex item 1</div>
<div class="flex-item">flex item 2</div>
<div class="flex-item">flex item 3</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>

Align-Content

aligns a flex container’s lines within when there is extra space in the cross-axis, similar to how justify-content aligns individual items within the main-axis.

normal (default): items are packed in their default position as if no value was set.
flex-start / start: items packed to the start of the container. The (more supported) flex-start honors the flex-direction while start honors the writing-mode direction.
flex-end / end: items packed to the end of the container. The (more support) flex-end honors the flex-direction while end honors the writing-mode direction.
center: items centered in the container.
space-between: items evenly distributed; the first line is at the start of the container while the last one is at the end.
space-around: items evenly distributed with equal space around each line.
space-evenly: items are evenly distributed with equal space around them.
stretch: lines stretch to take up the remaining space.

<html>
<head>
<style>  
.flex-container {
        display: -webkit-flex;
        display: flex;
        -webkit-flex-wrap: wrap;
        flex-wrap: wrap;
        -webkit-align-content: center;
        align-content: center;
        width: 300px;
        height: 300px;
        background-color: lightpink;
        }
        .flex-item {
        background-color: brown;
        width: 100px;
        height: 100px;
        margin: 10px;
        }
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="flex-container">
<div class="flex-item">flex item 1</div>
<div class="flex-item">flex item 2</div>
<div class="flex-item">flex item 3</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>