Using flexbox, left-align and right-align elements in one row

Question

In the old days I would have used two containers and floated one left and the other right using clearfix. But I think that method is a bit antiquated with flex capabilities being well supported now.

Problem is I have no idea how to lay this out using flex.

Here is a screenshot with some buttons. Secondary action is aligned left and the other two primary actions should be right aligned.

Here is the markup I have:

<footer>     <button>Back</button>     <span class="primary-btns">         <button>Cancel</button>         <button>Go</button>     </span> </footer> 

Can someone tell me what CSS flex methods I should use here?

Answer 1

You can just use justify-content: space-between

footer {    display: flex;    justify-content: space-between;  }

<footer>    <button>Back</button>    <span class="primary-btns">      <button>Cancel</button>      <button>Go</button>    </span>  </footer>

Update: You can also do this without span with margin-left: auto DEMO

Answer 2

You don't even need a nested container in this case.

Modern CSS technologies (flex and grid) make this layout simple and require just one container.

footer {    display: flex;  }    button:first-child {    margin-right: auto;  }    button {    margin: 5px;  }

<footer>    <button>Back</button>    <button>Cancel</button>    <button>Go</button>  </footer>

Flex auto margins consume all free space in the specified direction.

This would also work:

button:nth-child(2) { margin-left: auto } 

All about auto margins here: Methods for Aligning Flex Items