Working with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) can be hard for beginners.
Using CSS, you’re able to structure, update, and maintain the look of your system.
But the language requires skills to manipulate HTML pages to get the desired layout.
Here are some mistakes to avoid when working with CSS.
They will save you time and ease your development process.
Using px for Font Sizes
The “px” unit represents pixels.
However, px locks your design to a fixed size for all screens.
If you want a more proportional element,use relative measurementssuch as rem, or percentages (%).
The best relative measurement to use is rem.
With rem, the content scales better regardless of screen size.
The elements will never exceed the set screen size.
That’s why it’s better to use relative lengths rather than pixels.
Putting All Your Styles in One File
Using one CSS file for a big project can create a mess.
You will have a file with long lines of code that will be confusing when updating.
Try using different files for CSS style sheets for different components.
For example, you’re able to have different files for navigation, header, and footer.
And another for sections on the body.
Separating your CSS files helps structure your App and encourage code usability.
Inline CSS allows you to apply a unique style to an HTML element.
It uses the style attribute of the HTML element.
The following code is an example of inline CSS.
The text will appear like so:
However, HTML with inline CSS only can be messy.
It will look crowded.
Editing such a file is difficult, especially if it’s not your code.
Also, with inline CSS, you have to write code for each element.
This increases repetition and reduces the reuse of code.
Always use a combination of external stylesheets and inline CSS to style your web pages.
Overusing !important
In CSS, the!importantrule adds more importance to a property/value.
It overrides other styling rules for that property on that element.
You should only have a few!importantrules in your code.
Use it only when necessary.
There is no point in writing code and then overriding it.
Your code will look messy and cause problems when run on some devices.
This is essential if you end updebugging the CSS fileat a future date.
One of these standards includes using hyphens to separate grouped words.
Another is naming a selector according to what it does.
So anyone looking at it will not have to guess.
It also makes it easier to read, maintain and share code.
Leaving Code Uncommented
7.
CSS determines what the structure of your front-end looks like.
The design says a lot about your programming skills.
A design for your site clarifies your vision and the resources needed to get you there.
Have a mental picture of your project.
Then design it on paper or usea design toolkit like Canvato visualize what you want.
When you have a complete picture of the project, assemble all your resources and begin coding.
It will save you time and redundancy.
Working well with CSS requires practice and following the standard conventions.
Conventions not only make your code readable but also maintainable.
Writing standardized code will save you time and effort.
The time you would have spent formatting the front-end you could spend on more complex features.
It also ensures you could reuse code and share it with others.
Write better code by following the set conventions and become a better developer.
