CSS Animations & Transitions — Smooth UI Motion
CSS transition and @keyframes animation guide. Transform, opacity, and performance best practices.
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CSS Transitions and Keyframe Animations
Subtle motion guides attention — button hovers, modal entrances, loading states. CSS transitions handle simple state changes; @keyframes handle complex sequences.
Why CSS animations Matters
Motion communicates state changes — but only transform and opacity animations stay on the GPU compositor thread for 60fps performance.
Use transition for hover/focus state changes; reserve @keyframes for loaders and multi-step entrance effects.
CSS animations — Key Ideas You Must Know
- transition: property duration easing
- transform and opacity are GPU-friendly
- @keyframes for looping animations
- prefers-reduced-motion for accessibility
- Avoid animating width/height (use transform)
Practice CSS animations with Free Lessons
Try the CSS transitions lesson on Sturdee and animate a card hover effect.
Tip: Free interactive lesson: /tutorials/css/css_transitions — practice CSS animations with runnable code on Sturdee.
CSS Animations & Transitions — FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
CSS or JavaScript animation?+
CSS for simple UI transitions. JavaScript (or libraries) for complex choreographed sequences.
Continue learning interactively
Free tutorial: /tutorials/css/css_transitions →