What distinguishes fixed from sticky positioning?

In CSS, positioning is an important concept that allows you to control the layout and placement of HTML elements. Fixed and sticky positioning are two commonly used types of positioning in CSS, but they differ in how they behave.

• Fixed positioning: When an element is positioned with position: fixed, it is removed from the normal flow of the document and positioned relative to the viewport, which means it will stay in the same place even if the page is scrolled. Fixed elements are not affected by other elements and will overlap them if necessary.
• Sticky positioning: When an element is positioned with position: sticky, it is also removed from the normal flow of the document, but it behaves differently than fixed elements. A sticky element is positioned relative to its nearest ancestor that has a defined scrolling behavior, and it will stay in its position until it reaches a certain point, after which it will behave like a fixed element.

One key difference between fixed and sticky positioning is that sticky elements will move with the document flow until they reach their defined offset, after which they will behave like fixed elements. Additionally, sticky positioning allows for more flexibility in layout design as it allows you to create elements that remain visible until a certain point, after which they can be scrolled out of view.