Dropdown Menu inside a Navigation Bar

So i'm learning css online and found this piece of code a bit confusing due to the fact that nothing changes in the output if i remove the " .dropbtn " class, why is it placed there alongside " li a " and why does deleting it has no impact on the output? Help would be greatly appreciated, Thanks! Here's the piece of code:

    <!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
ul {
  list-style-type: none;
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
  overflow: hidden;
  background-color: #333;
}

li {
  float: left;
}

li a, .dropbtn {
  display: inline-block;
  color: white;
  text-align: center;
  padding: 14px 16px;
  text-decoration: none;
}

li a:hover, .dropdown:hover .dropbtn {
  background-color: red;
}

li.dropdown {
  display: inline-block;
}

.dropdown-content {
  display: none;
  position: absolute;
  background-color: #f9f9f9;
  min-width: 160px;
  box-shadow: 0px 8px 16px 0px rgba(0,0,0,0.2);
  z-index: 1;
}

.dropdown-content a {
  color: black;
  padding: 12px 16px;
  text-decoration: none;
  display: block;
  text-align: left;
}

.dropdown-content a:hover {background-color: #f1f1f1;}

.dropdown:hover .dropdown-content {
  display: block;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>

<ul>
  <li><a href="#home">Home</a></li>
  <li><a href="#news">News</a></li>
  <li class="dropdown">
    <a href="javascript:void(0)" class="dropbtn">Dropdown</a>
    <div class="dropdown-content">
      <a href="#">Link 1</a>
      <a href="#">Link 2</a>
      <a href="#">Link 3</a>
    </div>
  </li>
</ul>

<h3>Dropdown Menu inside a Navigation Bar</h3>
<p>Hover over the "Dropdown" link to see the dropdown menu.</p>

</body>
</html>

Solution 1:

The element with the class dropbtn matches the selector li a:

<li class="dropdown">
   <a href="javascript:void(0)" class="dropbtn">Dropdown</a>
</li>

so the same rules for li a apply to this element. Since all existing rules in this case are using both selectors li a, .dropbtn, removing the class doesn't change its styling and is therefore redundant.

BUT in a real world example you might have additional styling which should only apply to a dropdown-entry of your navigation (e.g.: with an after-element showing an arrow for example). In that case the dedicated class would make sense.

Furthermore using the .dropbtn selector alongside the li a selectors make sure, that even if the .dropbtn is not of type a, the same rules apply as for the other navigation elements.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
ul {
  list-style-type: none;
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
  overflow: hidden;
  background-color: #333;
}

li {
  float: left;
}

li a,  .dropbtn{
  display: inline-block;
  color: white;
  text-align: center;
  padding: 14px 16px;
  text-decoration: none;
}

li a:hover, .dropdown:hover .dropbtn {
  background-color: red;
}

li.dropdown {
  display: inline-block;
}

.dropdown-content {
  display: none;
  position: absolute;
  background-color: #f9f9f9;
  min-width: 160px;
  box-shadow: 0px 8px 16px 0px rgba(0,0,0,0.2);
  z-index: 1;
}

.dropdown-content a {
  color: black;
  padding: 12px 16px;
  text-decoration: none;
  display: block;
  text-align: left;
}

.dropdown-content a:hover {background-color: #f1f1f1;}

.dropdown:hover .dropdown-content {
  display: block;
}

.dropbtn {
  border-bottom: 3px solid red;
 }

.dropbtn::after {
  content: 'v';
  color: red;
  padding-left: 5px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>

<ul>
  <li><a href="#home">Home</a></li>
  <li><a href="#news">News</a></li>
  <li class="dropdown">
    <a href="javascript:void(0)" class="dropbtn">Dropdown</a>
    <div class="dropdown-content">
      <a href="#">Link 1</a>
      <a href="#">Link 2</a>
      <a href="#">Link 3</a>
    </div>
  </li>
</ul>

<h3>Dropdown Menu inside a Navigation Bar</h3>
<p>Hover over the "Dropdown" link to see the dropdown menu.</p>

</body>
</html>

Dropdown Menu inside a Navigation Bar

Solution 1:

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