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Responsive Web development is crucial in today's era to cater to a wide range of users. One of the key elements of responsive design is the navigation menu, which must display correctly across various devices, from desktops to mobile phones. In this article, we'll delve into how to create a responsive navigation menu using CSS.

Basic HTML Structure

Before diving into CSS, it's important to have the HTML structure set up correctly. Below is an example of a simple navigation menu structure:

<nav class="navigation">
  <ul class="menu">
    <li><a href="#">Home</a></li>
    <li><a href="#">About Us</a></li>
    <li><a href="#">Services</a></li>
    <li><a href="#">Contact</a></li>
  </ul>
</nav>

Styling the Menu in CSS

After setting up the basic HTML structure, it's time to apply CSS for styling and adding responsiveness.

.navigation {
  background: #333;
  overflow: hidden;
}

.menu li {
  float: left;
  list-style: none;
}

.menu li a {
  display: block;
  color: white;
  text-align: center;
  padding: 14px 16px;
  text-decoration: none;
}

.menu li a:hover {
  background-color: #ddd;
  color: black;
}

Adding Responsiveness using Media Queries

To make the menu responsive, we'll use CSS Media Queries. These allow us to define different styles for different screen sizes. For small screens like mobile phones, it's often desirable to collapse the menu into a hamburger menu.

@media screen and (max-width: 600px) {
  .menu li {
    float: none;
    display: block;
    text-align: left;
  }

  .menu li a {
    padding: 10px;
  }
}

Implementing the Hamburger Menu

To switch to a hamburger menu on small screens, you need to add some JavaScript or use a pure CSS solution with a checkbox and label acting as a button to toggle the menu.

Creating a responsive navigation menu requires a careful combination of HTML, CSS, and optionally JavaScript. Testing on various devices and browsers is key to ensuring that your menu is functional and visually appealing to all users. With the advent of CSS Flexbox and Grid systems, new possibilities for creating even more sophisticated responsive layouts are opening up, significantly simplifying the development process.