CSS Animations

CSS allows animation of HTML elements without using JavaScript or Flash!
In this chapter you will learn about the following properties:
@keyframes
animation-name
animation-duration
animation-delay
animation-iteration-count
animation-direction
animation-timing-function
animation-fill-mode
animation
The numbers in the table specify the first browser version that fully supports the property.
An animation lets an element gradually change from one style to another.
You can change as many CSS properties you want, as many times as you want.
To use CSS animation, you must first specify some keyframes for the 
animation.
Keyframes hold what styles the element will have at certain times.
When you specify CSS styles inside the @keyframes
rule, the animation will gradually change from the current style to the new style 
at certain times.
To get an animation to work, you must bind the animation to an element.
The following example binds the "example" animation to the <div> element. 
The animation will last for 4 seconds, and it will gradually change the 
background-color of the <div> element from "red" to "yellow":
Note: The animation-duration property 
defines how long an animation should take to complete. If the animation-duration property is not specified, 
no animation will occur, because 
the default value is 0s (0 seconds). 
In the example above we have specified when the style will change by using 
the keywords "from" and "to" (which represents 0% (start) and 100% (complete)).
It is also possible to use percent. By using percent, you can add as many 
style changes as you like.
The following example will change the background-color of the <div> 
element when the animation is 25% complete, 50% complete, and again when the animation is 100% complete:
The following example will change both the background-color and the position of the <div> 
element when the animation is 25% complete, 50% complete, and again when the animation is 100% complete:
The animation-delay property specifies a delay for the start of an animation.
The following example has a 2 seconds delay before starting the animation:
Negative values are also allowed. If using negative values, the animation 
will start as if it had already been playing for N seconds.
In the following example, the animation will start as if it had already been 
playing for 2 seconds:
The animation-iteration-count property specifies the number of times an animation should run.
The following example will run the animation 3 times before it stops:
The following example uses the value "infinite" to make the animation 
continue for ever:
The animation-direction property specifies 
whether an animation should be played forwards, backwards or in alternate 
cycles.
The animation-direction property can have the following values:
normal - The animation is played as normal 
(forwards). This is default
reverse - The animation is played in 
reverse direction (backwards)
alternate - The animation is played 
forwards first, then backwards
alternate-reverse - The animation is played 
backwards first, then forwards
The following example will run the animation in reverse direction (backwards):
The following example uses the value "alternate" to make the animation 
run forwards first, then backwards:
The following example uses the value "alternate-reverse" to make the animation 
run backwards first, then forwards:
The animation-timing-function property specifies the speed curve of the 
animation.
The animation-timing-function property can have the following values:
ease - Specifies an animation with a slow start, then fast, then end slowly (this is default)
linear - Specifies an animation with the same speed from start to end
ease-in - Specifies an animation with a slow start
ease-out - Specifies an animation with a slow end
ease-in-out - Specifies an animation with a slow start and end
cubic-bezier(n,n,n,n) - Lets you define your own values in a cubic-bezier function
The following example shows some of the different speed curves that can be used:
CSS animations do not affect an element before the first keyframe is played 
or after the last keyframe is played. The animation-fill-mode property can 
override this behavior.
The animation-fill-mode property specifies a 
style for the target element when the animation is not playing (before it 
starts, after it ends, or both).
The animation-fill-mode property can have the following values:
none - Default value. Animation will not 
apply any styles to the element before or after it is executing
forwards - The element will retain the 
style values that is set by the last keyframe (depends on animation-direction 
and animation-iteration-count)
backwards - The element will get the style 
values that is set by the first keyframe (depends on animation-direction), and 
retain this during the animation-delay period
both - The animation will follow the rules 
for both forwards and backwards, extending the animation properties in both 
directions
The following example lets the <div> element retain the style values from the 
last keyframe when the animation ends:
The following example lets the <div> element get the style values set by the 
first keyframe before the animation starts (during the animation-delay period):
The following example lets the <div> element get the style values set 
by the first keyframe before the animation starts, and retain the style values 
from the last keyframe when the animation ends:
The example below uses six of the animation properties:
The same animation effect as above can be achieved by using the shorthand 
animation property:
Add a 2 second animation for the <div> element, which changes the color from red to blue. Call the animation "example".
<style>
div {
  width: 100px;
  height: 100px;
  background-color: red;
  animation-name: ;
  : 2s;
}

@keyframes example {
  from {: red;}
  to {: blue;}
}
</style>

<body>
  <div>This is a div</div>
</body>

Start the Exercise
The following table lists the @keyframes rule and all the CSS animation properties:
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