Responsive design ensures your website adapts to all devices, from mobile phones to large desktops.
Understanding screen size breakpoints and their implementation is essential for web developers and designers.
Below is a table of common breakpoints, followed by 20 FAQ-style interview questions and answers.
Q1. What is a breakpoint in responsive design?
A breakpoint is a screen width at which the website layout changes to provide an optimal viewing experience on different devices.
Q2. What are common screen size breakpoints used in CSS frameworks?
XS (<576px), SM (576–767px), MD (768–991px), LG (992–1199px), XL (1200–1399px), XXL (≥1400px).
Q3. Why is mobile-first design important?
Mobile-first design ensures layouts work on small screens first and progressively enhance for larger screens, improving user experience.
Q4. How do you implement breakpoints in CSS?
Using media queries. Example: @media (min-width: 768px) { /* styles for tablets */ }
Q5. What is the difference between SM and MD breakpoints?
SM is for small devices (phones, 576–767px), MD is for tablets in portrait or small laptops (768–991px).
Q6. What is XL breakpoint used for?
XL is used for standard desktop screens (1200–1399px) to adjust layout for larger monitors.
Q7. How is XXL different from XL?
XXL is for very large desktop screens (≥1400px) where layout may need extra adjustments for spacing and content.
Q8. Can breakpoints vary between projects?
Yes, depending on the design and target devices, breakpoints can be customized.
Q9. What is the benefit of using media queries?
Media queries allow you to apply different styles for different screen sizes, making your website responsive.
Q10. How many breakpoints should a website have?
Typically 5–6 breakpoints (XS, SM, MD, LG, XL, XXL) are sufficient for most projects.
Q11. What is mobile-first vs desktop-first design?
Mobile-first starts styling from small screens and scales up; desktop-first starts from large screens and scales down.
Q12. How do you test responsive layouts?
Use browser developer tools, responsive design mode, and test on real devices.
Q13. Difference between fixed, fluid, and responsive layouts?
Fixed: static width; Fluid: percentage width; Responsive: adapts with breakpoints and media queries.
Q14. Common mistakes in responsive design?
Ignoring small screens, fixed-width elements, not testing on real devices, unscaled images.
Q15. Why is responsive design important for SEO?
Google favors mobile-friendly websites, improving search ranking and user experience.
Q16. What is viewport in responsive design?
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> ensures proper scaling on different devices.
Q17. Can images be responsive?
Yes, using max-width: 100% and height auto, images scale with container width.
Q18. What is container class in Bootstrap?
Container defines fixed or fluid width depending on screen size, helping layout alignment with breakpoints.
Q19. Difference between relative and absolute units?
Relative units (%, em, rem) scale; absolute units (px) remain fixed.
Q20. How does Tailwind handle breakpoints?
Tailwind uses prefixes: sm:, md:, lg:, xl:, 2xl: for different screen sizes.