Solving SCSS Parent Selector Scope Issue
Tags: webdev, frontend, css, scss
Published: 2024-02-29 18:30:10

Have you ever encountered issues with SCSS where the scope of the parent element gets lost within multiple nested selectors? This is a common problem, especially when you're dealing with complex stylesheets. However, fear not! There's a simple and elegant solution to this issue using SCSS variables.

Let's first examine this problem on an example code using [BEM methodology](https://getbem.com/introduction/).

```html
<section class="hero-section">
  <div class="container">
    <div class="hero-section__left">
      <p>Content 1</p>
    </div>
    <div class="hero-section__left">
      <p>Content 2</p>
    </div>
  </div>
</section>
```

We created a selector named .hero-section and this selector has two child elements named **.hero-section\_\_left** and **.hero-section\_\_left**.

```scss
.hero-section {
  background: blue;
  padding: 20px;

  .container {
    display: flex;
    justify-content: space-evenly;

    &__left {
      background: yellow;
    }

    &__right {
      background: pink;
    }
  }
}
```

It doesn't seem like there's a problem but when we compile the code, it becomes clear what the error is:

```scss
.hero-section {
  background: blue;
  padding: 20px;
}
.hero-section .container {
  display: flex;
  justify-content: space-evenly;
}
.hero-section .container__left {
  background: yellow;
}
.hero-section .container__right {
  background: pink;
}
```

Our main goal was to style the **.hero-section .hero-section__left** and **.hero-section .hero-section__right** selectors. As you see, since the & selector has block scope, the nested selectors **&\_\_left** and **&\_\_right** may lose their parent scope, leading to unexpected styling behavior. In other words, the value of the & parent selection changes in each new block.

To solve this problem, let's review our code again by assigning our .**hero-section** scope to a variable called **$self**.

```scss
.hero-section {
  $self: &;
  background: blue;
  padding: 20px;

  .container {
    display: flex;
    justify-content: space-evenly;

    #{ $self }__left {
      background: yellow;
    }

    #{ $self }__right {
      background: pink;
    }
  }
}
```

Now let's look at the current compiled version of our code.

```scss
.hero-section {
  background: blue;
  padding: 20px;
}
.hero-section .container {
  display: flex;
  justify-content: space-evenly;
}
.hero-section .container .hero-section__left {
  background: yellow;
}
.hero-section .container .hero-section__right {
  background: pink;
}
```

Finally, we achieved the effect we wanted. By assigning the parent scope to a variable (let's call it $self), we can keep everything in check. So when you're styling those nested elements, just use #{$self} to refer back to the parent selector. It's like telling SCSS, "Hey, remember where we came from!".

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