How is a class defined in CSS?

In CSS, a class is defined using a period followed by the class name. This syntax is essential for applying specific styles to HTML elements that share the same class attribute. When you define a class in your CSS file, you precede the class name with a dot (.), which distinguishes class selectors from other types of selectors, such as IDs or element types.

For example, if you define a class called "example" in your CSS as follows:

.example {

color: blue;

}

This means that any HTML element that includes the class "example" will have blue text. The use of the period is crucial; it signals to the browser that you are targeting a class rather than an ID (which would be defined with a hash #) or another type of selector. Understanding this syntax is fundamental when designing and styling web pages effectively.