Upgrade to Pro
— share decks privately, control downloads, hide ads and more …
Speaker Deck
Sign up for free
Menu
Search
Features
All features
Private URLs
Password Protection
Custom URLS
Scheduled publishing
Remove Branding
Restrict embedding
Deck Collections
Notes
Features
All features
Private URLs
Password Protection
Custom URLS
Scheduled publishing
Remove Branding
Restrict embedding
Deck Collections
Notes
Explore
Featured decks
Featured speakers
Programming
Technology
Storyboards
Explore
Featured decks
Featured speakers
Programming
Technology
Storyboards
Pricing
Search
Sign in
Sign up for free
The purification of web development
Search
Nicolas Gallagher
May 30, 2013
Programming
630
5
Share
Embed
Copy iframe code
Copy JS code
Copy link
Start on current slide
The purification of web development
Nicolas Gallagher
May 30, 2013
More Decks by Nicolas Gallagher
See All by Nicolas Gallagher
React Native for web and beyond
necolas
5
1k
Thinking beyond "Scalable CSS"
necolas
14
7k
Making Twitter UI Infrastructure
necolas
14
4.4k
Adaptation and Components
necolas
6
1.5k
CSS Application Architecture
necolas
15
620
HTML5 Boilerplate: past, present, and future
necolas
4
310
Other Decks in Programming
See All in Programming
フロントエンドUIフレームワークのこれまでとこれから
ssssota
4
2.1k
AWS DevOps Agentで インシデント対応をAIに任せたい
honmarkhunt
7
2.7k
一参加者から『中の人』へ 〜全通PHPerがブースに立って学んだ、カンファレンスを100倍楽しむコツ〜
wp_daisuke
0
140
自分的「カンファレンスの楽しみ方」
syumai
0
200
go-spidermonkeyでAIエージェントのCode Modeを実装する
syumai
3
1.5k
iOS開発×AI駆動開発 〜最近使って便利だったスキルの話〜
nogu66
0
140
スマート反転とウェブアクセシビリティ
camiha
0
180
「AI時代、配布するPythonコードをどう守るか: 難読化の実験と判断軸」 #PyconJP2026
pkshadeck
PRO
2
190
{ Android | Kotlin } Gradle Plugin in 2026
ryunen344
1
300
『寄り添うラジオ』をAIで作る 体験価値から逆算した、会話しないUXと品質設計
theoriatec2024
3
140
AgentCore CLI で進化した AWS での AI エージェントの作り方 : 必要な機能を必要な時に
icoxfog417
PRO
2
270
AWS Step Functions 大規模並列の壁を越える / jaws-sonic-2026-niigata-step-functions
kasacchiful
PRO
1
430
Featured
See All Featured
Understanding Cognitive Biases in Performance Measurement
bluesmoon
32
3k
Mobile First: as difficult as doing things right
swwweet
225
10k
Lessons Learnt from Crawling 1000+ Websites
charlesmeaden
PRO
1
1.6k
How to Create Impact in a Changing Tech Landscape [PerfNow 2023]
tammyeverts
56
3.5k
Building Adaptive Systems
keathley
44
3.2k
10 Git Anti Patterns You Should be Aware of
lemiorhan
PRO
659
62k
The Art of Programming - Codeland 2020
erikaheidi
57
14k
The Web Performance Landscape in 2024 [PerfNow 2024]
tammyeverts
12
1.3k
"I'm Feeling Lucky" - Building Great Search Experiences for Today's Users (#IAC19)
danielanewman
230
23k
Crafting Experiences
bethany
1
310
The AI Revolution Will Not Be Monopolized: How open-source beats economies of scale, even for LLMs
inesmontani
PRO
3
3.7k
Color Theory Basics | Prateek | Gurzu
gurzu
0
460
Transcript
The purification of web development
Nicolas Gallagher @necolas
Before code…
Assumptions and the history of ideas
Heraclitus (535 BC – 475 BC)
None
Democritus (460 BC – 370 BC)
None
None
“You cannot step twice into the same river; for fresh
waters are flowing in upon you.” – Heraclitus
CSS and the purification of HTML
<table> <tr> <td align="left" onClick="dothing()"> <center> <font face="verdana">…</font> </center> </td>
</tr> </table>
“To increase the granularity of control over elements, a new
attribute has been added to HTML: 'CLASS'.” - CSS1 spec
None
Don’t use “unsemantic” class names?
“Your HTML, like diamonds, should be forever.” - camendesign.com
“…authors are encouraged to use [class attribute] values that describe
the nature of the content, rather than values that describe the desired presentation of the content.” - HTML5 spec
“A structure based on CLASS is only useful within a
restricted domain, where the meaning of a class has been mutually agreed upon.” - CSS1 spec
Class names are for us, not machines
We can pick our own meaning
Don't write ugly class names?
<p class="hyphens-as-word-separators"> … </p>
/* Component */ .button {…} /* Component */ .button-group {…}
/* Component modifier */ .button.primary {…} /* Component child */ .button-group .item {…}
/* Component */ .Button {…} /* Component modifier */ .Button--primary
{…} /* Component */ .ButtonGroup {…} /* Component descendant */ .ButtonGroup-item {…}
<!-- HTML --> <ul class="ButtonGroup"> <li class="ButtonGroup-item"> <button class="Button"> Save
</button> </li> <li class="ButtonGroup-item"> <button class="Button Button--cancel"> Cancel </button> </li> </ul>
None
github.com/necolas/suit-button-group
github.com/necolas/suit
Structured class names are useful
Don’t use extra elements?
<article class="Box"> <div class="Box-close"> <button class="u-textLike js-close"> <span class="Icon Icon--close"></span>
<span class="u-isHiddenVisually"> Close </span> </button> </div> ... </article>
<article class="Box"> <div class="Box-close"> {{> partials/close-button }} </div> {{$content}}{{/content}} </article>
{{<box_with_close}} {{$content}} <h1>Title</h1> <p>Some words</p> {{/content}} {{/box_with_close}}
Look at what they make you give
Web Components
“Web Components…let web application authors define widgets with a level
of visual richness not possible with CSS alone” - W3C Introduction to Web Components
“…specify the extra presentation using markup…” - W3C Introduction to
Web Components
None
Encapsulation, interoperability, reuse
Shadow DOM Encapsulation and DOM boundaries <element> Custom elements; extend
native elements <template> Clonable, inert DOM fragments
<element extends="button" name="x-btnClose"> <template> <style> @host { /* css to
unstyle button */ } .visHidden { /* css to hide text */ } </style> <x-icon type="close" size="24"></x-icon> <div class="visHidden"> <content></content> </div> </template> <script>// javascript</script> </element>
<button is="x-btnClose">Close</button>
None
It’s ok to rely on extra elements
Step back into the river
The end