Why must a + or - be surrounded with whitespace from within the Calc() method?

Recently I've started using the calc(...) method within CSS. I quickly learned that code such as: width: calc(100%-2) will not work, though adding white-space before and after the - operator will fix the problem and the calc method will function properly.

After doing a bit of research I found multiple blog posts reference that the white-space is required and many have even pointed to the specification (CSS3 8.1.1) which states:

> In addition, whitespace is required on both sides of the + and - > operators. (The * and / operaters can be used without whitespace > around them.)

Now, clearly, the spec tells us that these operators must be wrapped in white-space, but why? I've read further within the spec (through sections 8.1.2-4) and if it's explained in these additional portions, I'm not understanding the reasoning.

In simple terms, could someone explain why it was specified that calc(100% - 1) or even calc(100%/2) is acceptable syntax but not calc(100%-1)?

The - character is one of the allowed characters in CSS idents. Judging by the resolution given here, it seems they wanted to prevent syntactic ambiguities that could arise from using - without whitespace, especially with keyword values such as min-content (although AFAIK keyword values aren't yet allowed within calc() — correct me if I'm wrong).

Not everyone agrees with this resolution, though.

The Mozilla Developer Network explains it quite well:

> Note: The + and - operators must always be surrounded by whitespace. The operand of calc(50% -8px) for instance will be parsed as a percentage followed by a negative length, an invalid expression, while the operand of calc(50% - 8px) is a percentage followed by a minus sign and a length. Even further, calc(8px + -50%) is treated as a length followed by a plus sign and a negative percentage. > > The * and / operators do not require whitespace, but adding it for consistency is allowed, and recommended.

I think you should first consider how do CSSs identify a length. A length is defined as an optional sign followed by a module and an optional unit of measure (although many properties actually require it):

<CSSlength> := [<sign>]<module>[<unit>]

So, for example, valid CSS lengths are:

-3px
100em
+10pc
0
91
5%

Defining a length like this, the CSS engine parses the following:

calc(100% -1px);

as a length followed by another length. In this case it would be 100% followed by -1px, which doesn't make sense to calc() at all. This is also explained in the relative MDN documentation page.

In order to put two lengths in relation you need to use a distinct operator, therefore, following the above logic, you'll need to use whitespaces:

calc(100% - 1px);