One of the biggest issues in CSS programming is dealing with maintenance. In the real-world, not every project we start is from scratch. It can be a project that has been written maybe a couple of years back or even longer!
Therefore, as a developer, it is a must to write code as cleanly as possible.
Similar is the case for CSS. There are some points we need to pay attention to while writing them.
There’s a lot to learn in CSS – the properties, values, elements, and attributes!
It’s somewhat similar to content written! If you check out the best essay writing sites, there are tons of content written from ages! Now, if the content is not written properly, formatting them, making changes takes a lot of time and energy!
So, how to write CSS?
In this article, we will discuss 8 key tips on how you can write better CSS. But before that, let’s take a quick look at the importance of writing CSS syntax.
Importance of Writing Better CSS
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a stylesheet language used to describe a document’s look and formatting in HTML. It is used to apply styles, such as colors, fonts, and layouts, to web pages.
There are benefits to using the best practices for CSS.
We’ve mentioned a few here!
- Maintainability: Clean CSS code is easy to understand, and modify and makes it easier for developers to maintain and update the websites over time.
- Reusability: Organized CSS codes can be easily reused across different pages and projects, reducing the development time and improving the consistency
- Improved Performance: Poorly written CSS can lead to slow loading time, as the browser struggles to render the pages. Clean CSS on the other hand is optimized for performance and helps improve user experience.
- Better Collaboration: Working with clean code can help ensure that everyone is on the same page and makes it easier for new team members to pick up where they left off.
- Improved Accessibility: Writing clean CSS Code also helps improve accessibility for people. It ensures that systems are correctly applied to elements.
Now that we are aware of the importance of practicing writing better CSS, let’s head on how we can do so!
8 Best Tips for Writing CSS
Here are some tips to help you write better CSS code:
1. Use Descriptive Class and ID Names
Using a descriptive class and ID names is the best practice in CSS. It helps to make your code more readable, understandable, and maintainable.
Doing so allows class names to describe the purpose and context of each element. It makes it easier to understand the structure and styles of the page.
In the future, it is easier to update and modify styles in future.
2. Keep it Simple
The simplicity of code lies in the simple writing of codes.
Using overly complex CSS selectors makes it difficult for everyone to understand. Further, you can avoid doing so.
We also suggest keeping styles as simple as possible.
3. Use CSS Reset
CSS reset is a very common technique to ensure that all the elements have a consistent default style across different browsers.
A CSS reset stylesheet sets a uniform baseline for all elements so that custom styles can be applied consistently.
They are applied to a webpage to reset or normalize the default styles.
4. Use CSS Preprocessors
CSS preprocessors are scripting language that extends the capabilities of CSS, allowing you to use variables, functions, mixins, and other features. It functions in writing and maintaining CSS easier.
It compiles your code into standard CSS that can be interpreted by web browsers.
CSS preprocessors like Sass, Less, or Stylus can make your CSS development faster and more efficient.
5. Use CSS Selectors Wisely
Using CSS selectors wisely can help you write more efficient code.
We recommend keeping the specificity of your selectors as low as possible. High specificity makes it difficult to override styles and makes your code less maintainable.
Another way is avoiding using complex selectors, as they slow down the rendering of your page, making code harder to maintain.
You can use CSS selectors to your advantage, but also need to be aware of their impact on your code.
6. Organize your Styles
We suggest organizing your CSS styles. It makes your code more readable, maintainable, and scalable.
Here are the best practices for organizing your CSS styles:
- Choose a naming convention that makes sense for your projects.
- Keep related styles together in a single file or section, making it easier to find what you need.
- Minimize the amount of CSS code by using inheritance and cascading styles.
- Consider splitting your styles into separate files for different sections of your website, such as header, footer and main content.
- Minimize the number of independencies between your styles.
By following these practices for organizing your CSS styles, you can create a codebase that is easy to work with and update.
7. Use CSS to Control the Layout
CSS can be used to control the layout of a web page by specifying the size, position, and style of elements of a page.
You can also use CSS to adjust the size and position of the elements, change the color and fonts of text, add background images and colors, and more.
This helps in making your code simpler for everyone to understand.
8. Use CSS Debugging Tools
There are several tools available for debugging CSS including:
- Browser DevTools: It is the most modern web browser’s built-in tools that allow you inspect and modify the CSS of a website in real-time.
- CSS Link: It is a static code analysis that checks your CSS code for potential errors and recommends best practices
- Stylelint: It is a modern linting utilized for CSS that helps you maintain a consistent code style and avoid errors.
All of these tools help you identify and fix issues in your CSS. We suggest using debugging tools to make your code more accessible.
Wrapping Up
This sums our tips on practicing writing better CSS.
We suggest considering these actions when your write CSS syntax.
When writing CSS code, it’s important to follow some best practices. It ensures that your code is reliable and efficient.
By following these tips, you can write clean and maintainable CSS code that is easy to understand and use.