The universal selector matches any element type. It can be implied (and therefore omitted) if it isn’t the only component of the simple selector.“Universal” in the h1 element (* matches the <h1>) “emphasize” in the p element (* matches the <p>) “not” in the first li element (* matches the <ul> or the <li>) “type” in the second li element (* matches the <ul> or the <li>) [tweet]
However, it won’t match the <em>immediate</em> element, since that’s an immediate child of the div element—there’s nothing between <div> and <em> for the * to match.
The two selector examples shown here are equivalent:
*.warning { ⋮ declarations } .warning { ⋮ declarations }It’s important not to confuse the universal selector with a wildcard character—the universal selector doesn’t match “zero or more elements.” Consider the following HTML fragment:
<body>
<div>
<h1>The <em>Universal</em> Selector</h1>
<p>We must <em>emphasize</em> the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>It's <em>not</em> a wildcard.</li>
<li>It matches elements regardless of <em>type</em>.</li>
</ul>
This is an <em>immediate</em> child of the division.
</div>
</body>
The selector div * em will match the following em elements:
However, it won’t match the <em>immediate</em> element, since that’s an immediate child of the div element—there’s nothing between <div> and <em> for the * to match.
Example
This rule set will be applied to every element in a document:
* { margin: 0; padding: 0; }SOURCE | LINK (sitepoint.com) | LANGUAGE | ENGLISH |
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