In this episode of Syntax, Scott and Wes talk about writing good CSS.

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Show Notes 02:11 - Frameworks

  • Utility: Tailwind, Taycons, Bulma
  • Frameworks: Foundation, Bootstrap
  • Classless base starters: https://github.com/dbohdan/classless-css
    • HTML5 UP / A template

13:37 - Preprocessors

  • Sass
  • Stylus
  • Less
  • Regular CSS
    • Variables
    • Color functions - not yet

19:42 - Tools

  • PostCSS is like Babel for CSS. Some good plugins:
    • https://github.com/postcss/postcss#plugins
  • CSS min/max for clamp
  • Autoprefixer
  • Autoreset - reset a component
  • Gap instead of grid-gap
  • Simple-vars
  • Postcss-modules
  • SugarSS
  • Preset env

34:19 - Stylint

  • Stylint
  • More than just a basic linter
  • Capable of complex rules in your CI process - i.e. if you are using a color, make sure it’s a CSS variable

36:37 - Removing unwanted CSS

  • PurgeCSS - Tailwind uses this
  • PurifyCSS

41:17 - Writing maintainable CSS / scoping solutions

  • Component-based
    • CSS Modules
  • Naming Convention Based
    • BEM
    • SMACSS
  • CSS Variables
    • Powerful when utilized with things like calc() to avoid out of sync values
  • Know which browsers you need to support

Links * Syntax 197: Hasty Treat - Tips For Writing Good CSS * Compass * Susy * Grunt * Gulp * Linaria * Astroturf * Houdini * Svelte

Syntax Highlight * Dhanish Gajjar - https://www.instagram.com/dhanishgajjar/

××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ××× * Scott: Rustlings * Wes: Class Action Park Documentary

Shameless Plugs * Scott: Advanced Animating React with Framer Motion - Sign up for the year and save 25%! * Wes: Master Gatsby - Use the coupon code ‘Syntax’ for $10 off!

Tweet us your tasty treats! * Scott’s Instagram * LevelUpTutorials Instagram * Wes’ Instagram * Wes’ Twitter * Wes’ Facebook * Scott’s Twitter * Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets