Introduction to Stylesheets
The class attribute lets an author mark elements for special formatting, but also for special meanings. For example, by marking the above section with class="abstract" we not only mark the meaning behind the section, but provide a way for CSS rules to specify special formatting for the entire abstract -- CSS rules can be applied to particular classes.
Note also how the CSS rules are inherited by child elements -- that is, by elements within other elements. Thus the paragraphs inside the div with class="abstract" inherit the extra indents and smaller font size of the surrounding div.
Generic Class Styling
Styling can also be applied to generic classes. But we've been all through that in Chapter 4 and 5, so why repeat it here!