Upgrade to Pro
— share decks privately, control downloads, hide ads and more …
Speaker Deck
Features
Speaker Deck
PRO
Sign in
Sign up for free
Search
Search
The purification of web development
Search
Sponsored
·
Your Podcast. Everywhere. Effortlessly.
Share. Educate. Inspire. Entertain. You do you. We'll handle the rest.
→
Nicolas Gallagher
May 30, 2013
Programming
620
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
610
HTML5 Boilerplate: past, present, and future
necolas
4
310
Other Decks in Programming
See All in Programming
AIを活用したE2Eテスト実装効率化のあゆみ / ebisu-mobile-14-kotetu
kotetuco
0
170
使用 Meilisearch 建立新聞搜尋工具
johnroyer
0
150
【やさしく解説 設計編 #0】DDDのコード、読めるのに分からない人へ
panda728
PRO
2
270
はてなアカウント基盤 State of the Union
cockscomb
1
1.3k
AI がコードを書く時代における新卒エンジニアの仕事風景 (2026) / New Graduate Engineers in the Era of AI Coding (2026)
sushichan044
0
220
PHP初心者セッション2026 〜生成AIでは見えない裏側を知る:今だからLAMPを通して仕組みを学ぶ〜
kashioka
0
460
吝嗇家のためのAI活用 / AI development for miser - ChatGPT + Issue Driven Development
tooppoo
0
190
LLMによるContent Moderationの本番運用の裏側と品質担保への挑戦
suikabar
3
850
関数型プログラミングのメリットって何だろう?
wanko_it
0
180
ランチタイムLT会3周年!ランチタイムLT会を3年間続けられたお話
y0hgi
1
140
PHP に部分適用が来るぞ!……ところで何それ?おいしいの? #phpcon / phpcon-2026
shogogg
0
220
Foundation Models frameworkで画像分析
ryodeveloper
1
120
Featured
See All Featured
Ten Tips & Tricks for a 🌱 transition
stuffmc
0
150
Done Done
chrislema
186
16k
Agile Leadership in an Agile Organization
kimpetersen
PRO
0
190
The Power of CSS Pseudo Elements
geoffreycrofte
82
6.4k
Producing Creativity
orderedlist
PRO
348
40k
The innovator’s Mindset - Leading Through an Era of Exponential Change - McGill University 2025
jdejongh
PRO
1
220
Abbi's Birthday
coloredviolet
3
8.7k
Facilitating Awesome Meetings
lara
57
7k
Discover your Explorer Soul
emna__ayadi
2
1.2k
How to optimise 3,500 product descriptions for ecommerce in one day using ChatGPT
katarinadahlin
PRO
1
3.7k
Highjacked: Video Game Concept Design
rkendrick25
PRO
1
410
SEO for Brand Visibility & Recognition
aleyda
0
4.6k
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