In CSS, which type of selector is generally avoided due to its specificity issues?

The universal selector is often avoided due to its broad application and specificity issues. When you use the universal selector, it applies the given styles to all elements indiscriminately. This can lead to unintended consequences, particularly when more specific rules are defined later in the stylesheet.

CSS specificity rules determine which styles are applied when multiple rules affect the same element. The universal selector has the lowest specificity, making it less powerful compared to class, ID, or type selectors. When you do this, you might find that your intended styles get overridden, leading to confusion and difficulty in maintaining the code. Furthermore, widespread use of the universal selector can result in performance issues, especially in large documents with many DOM elements, as the browser has to apply styles to every single element.

In contrast, other selectors mentioned, such as type selectors, ID selectors, and descendant selectors, have defined precedence levels, which helps in creating more predictable and maintainable styles.