What is the role of a stylesheet in web development?

In web development, a stylesheet plays a crucial role in separating content from design by applying styling rules to the HTML structure of a webpage. This separation is vital because it allows developers to maintain a clean separation between the markup (HTML) that structures the content and the styles (CSS) that determine how that content is presented to users.

By using stylesheets, developers can control various aspects of the visual presentation, such as colors, fonts, layouts, and responsiveness, without altering the underlying HTML structure. This promotes consistency across different pages of a website and makes it easier to manage and update the appearance of the site.

While defining HTML document structure, storing media files, and managing server requests are necessary aspects of web development, they do not pertain to the specific function of stylesheets. Stylesheets are solely focused on the presentation layer, enhancing both usability and aesthetics.