Are the any differences between using:

and

to include css files.

If so which one is better to use?

I just use the second, as do 99% of other sites.

I am not sure why people use the other one.

this is another browser hack, earlier browsers do not understand the @import command, and therefore ignore it.

I think this might have been for browsers previous to version 4, so really it's not needed much these days, hence why 99.8% of people do not use it

which one is best to use then?

Hey guys,

There is also the FOUC issue in IE while using @import, in which IE will show you a completely unstyled page momentarily.

Rich

As others have said, The main difference is that early browsers do not support the import command. This is no longer a problem so there shouldn't be any difference between the two.

<link> is the most common way to link files.

Use whatever you prefer.

Seeing that all browsers understand and support both methods, you can use either one.

However, <link> is more common and preferred by most designers.

i prefer the second one cause thats the way i was taught and i know for a fact that it works across all the browsers and platforms...

As welshstew said, this is a browser hack. The main reason it is used (or should be used IMO) is if you're designing your site to be read by older browsers as well as new ones. Example:



where basic.css would contain color info and what not (you know, basic stuff) and advanced.css would contain the layout info (like floating, padding, etc...). Here's a nice little chart that kinda helps with knowing what browsers support what css commands: http://centricle.com/ref/css/filters/

This post has been edited by paintingtheweb: Feb 22 2008, 01:16 PM

I think to answer the question on the difference.
I believe IE loads the import after the HTML content is loaded.
Thats why,

I don't believe Firefox does it.