html - flex-grow not sizing flex items as expected

Question

It seems that the content inside a flex div affects its calculated size concerning the flex-grow property. Am I doing something wrong?

In the fiddle provided below, you'll see a number pad. All the rows contain 3 numbers except the bottom row. That row should have the '0' be the width of 2 numbers, hence flex-grow: 2 and the ':' (colon) be the size of 1 number, hence flex-grow: 1.

Am I missing something here?

The right side of the '0' should be aligned with the 8, 5, and 2 above it. It's a bit off.

.numbers {
    display: flex;
    flex-direction: column;
}

.row {
    display: flex;
    flex-direction: row;
    flex-grow: 1;
    justify-content: space-between;
}

.button {
    display: flex;
    flex-grow: 1;
    justify-content: center;
    align-items: center;
    margin: 5px;
    border-radius: 5px;
    border: 1px solid gray;
    background: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.2);
    cursor: pointer;
}

.button#number0 {
    flex-grow: 2;
}

.button#colon {
    flex-grow: 1;
}

<div class="numbers">
    <div class="row">
        <div class="button number" id="number1">1</div>
        <div class="button number" id="number2">2</div>
        <div class="button number" id="number3">3</div>
    </div>
    <div class="row">
        <div class="button number" id="number4">4</div>
        <div class="button number" id="number5">5</div>
        <div class="button number" id="number6">6</div>
    </div>
    <div class="row">
        <div class="button number" id="number7">7</div>
        <div class="button number" id="number8">8</div>
        <div class="button number" id="number9">9</div>
    </div>
    <div class="row">
        <div class="button number" id="number0">0</div>
        <div class="button" id="colon">:</div>
    </div>
</div>

Answer 1

Short Analysis

The problem is that rows 1-3 have two horizontal margins and row 4 only has one.

With horizontal margins at 10px each, row 4 has 10px more free space than the other rows. This throws off the alignment of the columns.

Because flex-grow applies only to free space, and is heavily influenced by content and margins, it's not the most secure way to size flex items.

Try flex-basis instead. Add this to your code:

.button    { flex-basis: 33.33%; }
#number0   { flex-basis: calc(66.67% + 10px); }
*          { box-sizing: border-box; }

.numbers {
    display: flex;
    flex-direction: column;
}

.row {
    display: flex;
    flex-direction: row;
    flex-grow: 1;
    justify-content: space-between;
}

.button {
    display: flex;
    flex-basis: 33.33%;
    justify-content: center;
    align-items: center;
    margin: 5px;
    border-radius: 5px;
    border: 1px solid gray;
    background: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.2);
    cursor: pointer;
}

#number0   { flex-basis: calc(66.67% + 10px); }
*          { box-sizing: border-box; }

<div class="numbers">
    <div class="row">
        <div class="button number" id="number1">1</div>
        <div class="button number" id="number2">2</div>
        <div class="button number" id="number3">3</div>
    </div>
    <div class="row">
        <div class="button number" id="number4">4</div>
        <div class="button number" id="number5">5</div>
        <div class="button number" id="number6">6</div>
    </div>
    <div class="row">
        <div class="button number" id="number7">7</div>
        <div class="button number" id="number8">8</div>
        <div class="button number" id="number9">9</div>
    </div>
    <div class="row">
        <div class="button number" id="number0">0</div>
        <div class="button" id="colon">:</div>
    </div>
</div>