@if and @else
The @if
rule is written @if <expression> { ... }
, and it controls whether or not its block gets evaluated (including emitting any styles as CSS). The expression usually returns either true
or false
—if the expression returns true
, the block is evaluated, and if the expression returns false
it’s not.
SCSS Syntax
@mixin avatar($size, $circle: false) {
width: $size;
height: $size;
@if $circle {
border-radius: $size / 2;
}
}
.square-av {
@include avatar(100px, $circle: false);
}
.circle-av {
@include avatar(100px, $circle: true);
}
Sass Syntax
@mixin avatar($size, $circle: false)
width: $size
height: $size
@if $circle
border-radius: $size / 2
.square-av
@include avatar(100px, $circle: false)
.circle-av
@include avatar(100px, $circle: true)
CSS Output
.square-av {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
}
.circle-av {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
border-radius: 50px;
}
@else permalink@else
An @if
rule can optionally be followed by an @else
rule, written @else { ... }
. This rule’s block is evaluated if the @if
expression returns false
.
SCSS Syntax
$light-background: #f2ece4;
$light-text: #036;
$dark-background: #6b717f;
$dark-text: #d2e1dd;
@mixin theme-colors($light-theme: true) {
@if $light-theme {
background-color: $light-background;
color: $light-text;
} @else {
background-color: $dark-background;
color: $dark-text;
}
}
.banner {
@include theme-colors($light-theme: true);
body.dark & {
@include theme-colors($light-theme: false);
}
}
Sass Syntax
$light-background: #f2ece4
$light-text: #036
$dark-background: #6b717f
$dark-text: #d2e1dd
@mixin theme-colors($light-theme: true)
@if $light-theme
background-color: $light-background
color: $light-text
@else
background-color: $dark-background
color: $dark-text
.banner
@include theme-colors($light-theme: true)
body.dark &
@include theme-colors($light-theme: false)
CSS Output
.banner {
background-color: #f2ece4;
color: #036;
}
body.dark .banner {
background-color: #6b717f;
color: #d2e1dd;
}
@else if permalink@else if
You can also choose whether to evaluate an @else
rule’s block by writing it @else if <expression> { ... }
. If you do, the block is evaluated only if the preceding @if
‘s expression returns false
and the @else if
’s expression returns true
.
In fact, you can chain as many @else if
s as you want after an @if
. The first block in the chain whose expression returns true
will be evaluated, and no others. If there’s a plain @else
at the end of the chain, its block will be evaluated if every other block fails.
SCSS Syntax
@use "sass:math";
@mixin triangle($size, $color, $direction) {
height: 0;
width: 0;
border-color: transparent;
border-style: solid;
border-width: math.div($size, 2);
@if $direction == up {
border-bottom-color: $color;
} @else if $direction == right {
border-left-color: $color;
} @else if $direction == down {
border-top-color: $color;
} @else if $direction == left {
border-right-color: $color;
} @else {
@error "Unknown direction #{$direction}.";
}
}
.next {
@include triangle(5px, black, right);
}
Sass Syntax
@use "sass:math"
@mixin triangle($size, $color, $direction)
height: 0
width: 0
border-color: transparent
border-style: solid
border-width: math.div($size, 2)
@if $direction == up
border-bottom-color: $color
@else if $direction == right
border-left-color: $color
@else if $direction == down
border-top-color: $color
@else if $direction == left
border-right-color: $color
@else
@error "Unknown direction #{$direction}."
.next
@include triangle(5px, black, right)
CSS Output
.next {
height: 0;
width: 0;
border-color: transparent;
border-style: solid;
border-width: 2.5px;
border-left-color: black;
}
Truthiness and Falsiness permalinkTruthiness and Falsiness
Anywhere true
or false
are allowed, you can use other values as well. The values false
and null
are falsey, which means Sass considers them to indicate falsehood and cause conditions to fail. Every other value is considered truthy, so Sass considers them to work like true
and cause conditions to succeed.
For example, if you want to check if a string contains a space, you can just write string.index($string, " ")
. The string.index()
function returns null
if the string isn’t found and a number otherwise.
⚠️ Heads up!
Some languages consider more values falsey than just false
and null
. Sass isn’t one of those languages! Empty strings, empty lists, and the number 0
are all truthy in Sass.