In addition to Idriss answer:

CSS

In CSS we write code as depicted bellow, in full length.

body{
 width: 800px;
 color: #ffffff;
}
body content{
 width:750px;
 background:#ffffff;
}

SCSS

In SCSS we can shorten this code using a @mixin so we don’t have to write color and width properties again and again. We can define this through a function, similarly to PHP or other languages.

$color: #ffffff;
$width: 800px;

@mixin body{
 width: $width;
 color: $color;

 content{
  width: $width;
  background:$color;
 }
}

SASS

In SASS however, the whole structure is visually quicker and cleaner than SCSS.

  • It is sensitive to white space when you are using copy and paste,
  • It seems that it doesn't support inline CSS currently.

    $color: #ffffff
    $width: 800px
    $stack: Helvetica, sans-serif
    
    body
      width: $width
      color: $color
      font: 100% $stack
    
      content
        width: $width
        background:$color
    
Answer from Hash on Stack Overflow
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GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › css › what-is-the-difference-between-css-and-scss
Difference Between CSS and SCSS - GeeksforGeeks
CSS is a stylesheet language whereas SCSS is a preprocessor scripting language that is a superset of CSS.
Published   January 15, 2025
Discussions

CSS, SCSS, SASS?

Thank you, will do :)

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45
58
February 12, 2015
The difference between Sass, Scss, and Css?
What is the difference between those guys Sass, Scss, and Css? As a developer, what should I use? please, provide a simple explanation for the basic level! More on forum.freecodecamp.org
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August 22, 2022
css - What's the difference between SCSS and Sass? - Stack Overflow
Lately, I'm considering giving ... CSS preprocessor) because it allows you to combine two syntaxes in one file (among some other features). That may not be a good direction for a team to take but when you are maintaining it alone - it's ok. The stylus is actually most flexible when syntax is in question. And finaly mixin for .scss vs .sass syntax ... More on stackoverflow.com
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Is sass/scss worth learning
Honestly it's all the same thing. A lot of the old selling points of sass are now baseline. There are probably still some useful things but I wouldn't say you need to "learn" any of it. Be an expert in CSS in general, you can adapt to any abstraction whenever you want easily. More on reddit.com
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CodiLime
codilime.com › blog › software development › frontend › css vs. scss variables — main differences and use cases
CSS vs. SCSS variables — main differences and use cases
August 13, 2023 - Here’s an example of CSS code that won’t work: primary-color: #c0d; color: var(--primary-color) + 111; // don't do that ... SCSS stands for Sassy CSS or Sassy cascading style sheets.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/webdev › css, scss, sass?
r/webdev on Reddit: CSS, SCSS, SASS?
February 12, 2015 -

I'm coding my 1st website and I was wondering which style sheet to use. What's the difference between these 3? Is any of them more supported than the other ones, even in way older browsers? Thanks!

Edit: Thanks for all the answers everyone, I get it now. I was just wondering which one of these I should use because I thought SASS seemed easier - no brackets and you can just edit an element's style within anothwr element's style (if that makes sense). But I am now aware that I should stick to "vanilla" CSS until I am very comfortable with it. Thank you once again. Great subreddit!

Top answer
1 of 17
36

Just to give some examples, because that's often a neat way to explain the difference:

CSS (what the browser understands):

h1.foo {
  background: red;
}
h1.foo .bar {
  text-shadow: 0 1px red;
}

SASS (compiles to CSS, supports things like nesting and variables):

$color: red

h1.foo
  background: $color
  .bar
    text-shadow: 0 1px $color

SCSS (SASS, but written with a CSS-like syntax):

$color: red;

h1.foo {
  background: $color;
  .bar {
    text-shadow: 0 1px $color;
  }
}

The latter two compile to CSS when you run them through a program. You then send the compiled files to the browser, since browsers only understand CSS.

2 of 17
18

The key to surviving in modern web development, and software development in general, is to keep things as simple as possible and only let them get more complex as needs require them to. This crap moves and changes way too fast to try and determine what to use at any given moment based only on what others seem to be doing, not to mention that their reasons for doing it that way may have no relation to what you're trying to do and so there's never a canonical "right" answer (and anyone saying otherwise has an agenda that you'd do well to stear clear of).

So, in your case, it's easy: use plain old CSS unless and until you need some specific thing that SASS or LESS gives you. Neither are required to be productive in any way, shape or form and in fact they seem to just get in the way if your project isn't of a sufficient complexity to make what they provide valuable of for no other reason than they introduce a new build step (the lesser the better).

You'll find out pretty quickly if you need variables for example. A lot of the times you really don't. But if you hit a wall with CSS and you think "gee, if I had variables then I could solve this easy" then it's time to migrate. That's how you know, simple. as that.

Until that point, KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid, in case you've never heard that).

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SheCodes
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[CSS] - CSS vs SCSS: What is the Difference? - SheCodes | SheCodes
CSS is a styling language, while SCSS is a preprocessor scripting language with variables, nesting, and functions, which makes it easier to manage larger projects. Learn more about the differences between the two here.
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freeCodeCamp
forum.freecodecamp.org › html-css
The difference between Sass, Scss, and Css? - HTML-CSS - The freeCodeCamp Forum
August 22, 2022 - What is the difference between those guys Sass, Scss, and Css? As a developer, what should I use? please, provide a simple explanation for the basic level!
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DEV Community
dev.to › mathlete › what-s-the-difference-between-css-sass-and-scss-g2b
What's the difference between CSS, SASS, and SCSS? - DEV Community
August 31, 2021 - It's simply CSS with the same featureset as SASS but requires semicolons and curly braces just like CSS. In fact, you can convert any CSS file to SCSS by changing the doc type from .css to .scss because SCSS is an extension of the syntax of CSS.
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Scaler
scaler.com › home › topics › scss vs css: key difference between css and scss
SCSS Vs CSS - Key Difference Between CSS and SCSS - Scaler Topics
August 28, 2023 - Here, body is a CSS selector. ... SCSS is more expressive: SCSS uses fewer lines of code than CSS, which makes the code load faster.
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September 11, 2024 - Here’s an example of how CSS can be used to style web pages: --CODE language-markup line-numbers-- body{ color: #6fda44; font-family: Neuemontreal, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; } ... SCSS is short for Sassy CSS, and is one of two syntaxes ...
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What is the difference between Css and Scss | Sololearn: Learn to code for FREE!
December 5, 2023 - They are similar in the sense that you can write normal CSS code in scss(sass). SCSS is a CSS preprocessor which allows you to use functions(mixins), variables, and nest CSS rules in each other.
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theknowledgeacademy.com › blog › scss-vs-css
SCSS vs. CSS: What's the Difference?
Traditionally, CSS has been the default styling language for decades. However, SCSS (Sassy CSS) has emerged as a powerful extension, offering additional features that bring a new level of efficiency and organisation to the development process. While both are great options for styling languages, there are several differences between SCSS and CSS.
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GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › css › what-is-the-difference-between-scss-and-sass
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In summary, SCSS and SASS provide the same functionality, but the choice between them depends on your personal preference for syntax. SCSS is more suited for developers familiar with traditional CSS, while SASS’s minimalistic approach appeals ...
Published   March 25, 2025
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blog.udemy.com › home › scss vs. css — which one is better for web development and why?
SCSS vs. CSS — Which One Is Better for Web Development and Why? - Udemy Blog
March 23, 2021 - You can match the structure of your SCSS up to the structure of your HTML because you can nest both. Nesting prevents the need to write the same selector over and over. Nesting is a more natural syntax and is easier and faster to read and understand. Nested styles are more maintainable. Nesting keeps related styles together. You can use the descendent selector in CSS anywhere in your style sheets, and it can sometimes be hard to find which styles are affecting what.
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Top answer
1 of 16
2348

Sass is a CSS pre-processor with syntax advancements. Style sheets in the advanced syntax are processed by the program, and turned into regular CSS style sheets. However, they do not extend the CSS standard itself.

CSS variables are supported and can be utilized but not as well as pre-processor variables.

For the difference between SCSS and Sass, this text on the Sass documentation page should answer the question:

The SCSS syntax uses the file extension .scss. With a few small exceptions, it’s a superset of CSS, which means essentially all valid CSS is valid SCSS as well. Because of its similarity to CSS, it’s the easiest syntax to get used to and the most popular.

The indented syntax was Sass’s original syntax, and so it uses the file extension .sass. Because of this extension, it’s sometimes just called “Sass”. The indented syntax supports all the same features as SCSS, but it uses indentation instead of curly braces and semicolons to describe the format of the document.

However, all this works only with the Sass pre-compiler which in the end creates CSS. It is not an extension to the CSS standard itself.

2 of 16
792

I'm one of the developers who helped create Sass.

The difference is syntax. Underneath the textual exterior they are identical. This is why sass and scss files can import each other. Actually, Sass has four syntax parsers: scss, sass, CSS, and less. All of these convert a different syntax into an Abstract Syntax Tree which is further processed into CSS output or even onto one of the other formats via the sass-convert tool.

Use the syntax you like the best, both are fully supported and you can change between them later if you change your mind.