Animations and transitions are powerful tools to enhance the user experience in a web application. Through visual effects, we can make interactions more attractive and fluid. In this chapter, we will explore how to create animations and transitions in the DOM using CSS and JavaScript.

Transitions in CSS

Transitions in CSS allow for smooth changes from one state to another.

transition Property

The transition property defines which CSS property should be animated, the duration of the animation, the timing function, and the delay. We could define it in a CSS stylesheet like this:

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Transition Example

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CSS Animations

CSS animations provide more detailed control over property changes over time.

animation Property

Animations are defined using the animation property in CSS, where various properties such as animation-name, animation-duration, animation-timing-function, etc., are specified. They also need a keyframe definition with the specific name to operate.

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Animation Example

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Animations with JavaScript

We can use JavaScript to control animations more dynamically and provide interactivity.

setTimeout and setInterval

We can use setTimeout and setInterval to execute code at specific time intervals.

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Complete JavaScript Animation Example

Here is an example that uses setInterval to move an element across the screen:

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Using the Web Animations API

The Web Animations API provides a more powerful and flexible way to create animations with JavaScript.

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Conclusion

Animations and transitions in the DOM allow for creating attractive and dynamic user interfaces. By combining the capabilities of CSS and JavaScript, it is possible to control visual behaviors in a granular manner and enhance the user experience. In the next chapter, we will see how to integrate these techniques with AJAX and Fetch API for more dynamic content.