Why CSS Preprocessors Matter

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Why CSS Preprocessors Matter Jina Bolton // Product Designer // Do ConvergeFL // 2012

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A fractured process makes for a fractured user experience.” ” —Nate Fortin

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Create pages

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Create pages

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Create systems

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It used to be that designers made an object and walked away. Today the emphasis must shift to designing the entire life cycle.” ” —Paul Sa o

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CSS Preprocessors

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Language ! Compilation ! CSS

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DRY Development

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Patterns & Proportions

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Easier maintainability

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Stylus

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sass-lang.com

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compass-style.org

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Should I choose Sass or SCSS?

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SCSS Write normal CSS, then add on the extra features. Want to write code like CSS?

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@mixin sidebar { background: #eee; @include message; }

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Sass No curly braces, no semi colons, indented, whitespace-sensitive Want to write minimal code?

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=sidebar background: #eee +message

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Sass, not SASS!

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Common Misconceptions

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I don’t know how to use the command line.” ” You don’t have to.

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I don’t want to learn Ruby.” ” You don’t have to.

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livereload.com

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codekit.com

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compass.handlino.com

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mhs.github.com/scout-app

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I want my CSS file to be formatted pretty.” ” You should be compressing anyway.

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I’ll have to learn a whole new syntax.” ” Not necessarily.

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The person I hire may not know it.” ” Then hire someone else who does.

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Isn’t @import bad?” ” Sass imports are good.

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/* Main.css */ @import "typography.css"; @import "grid.css"; /* ...more css... */ CSS: 3 files Sass: 1 file

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Sass Benefits

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Nesting

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SCSS: Output: ul.items a { ... } ul.items:hover { ... } .ie-6 ul.items a { ... } ul.items a { ... &:hover { ... } .ie-6 & { ... } }

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SCSS: Output: ul.items { ... } @media print { ul.items { ... } } ul.items a { ... @media print { ... } }

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SCSS: Output: .sidebar { border: 1px solid #eee; border-top-color: #fff; border-left: 0; } .sidebar { border: 1px solid #eee { top-color: #fff; left: 0; } }

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Variables

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SCSS: Output: body { color: #444; } footer { background: #444; } $text: #444; $bg: $text; body { color: $text; } footer { background: $bg; }

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Mixins & Extend

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SCSS: Output: .module { padding: 1em; } .info { padding: 2em } @mixin spacing($s: 1em) { padding: $s; } .module { @include spacing; } .info { @include spacing(2em); }

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SCSS: Output: .message, .error { ... } .message.alert, .error.alert { ... } .error { ... } .message { ... &.alert { ... } } .error { ... @extend .message; }

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Placeholder Selectors

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SCSS: Output: .module, .sidebar { color: #444; } .sidebar, .main { width: 240px; } .module { color: #444; } %grid-1 { width: 240px; } .sidebar { @extend .module; @extend %grid-1; } .main { @extend %grid-1; }

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Color Functions

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$text: #444 color: lighten($text, 5%); color: darken($text, 5%); color: saturate($text, 5%); color: adjust-hue($text, 180); color: grayscale($text); color: mix($text, #fff);

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sassme.arc90.com/

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Commenting Options

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SCSS: Output: /* Multiline comment; appears in output */ /* Multiline comment; appears in output */ // Singleline comment; // Hidden from output

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Operations

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SCSS: Output: body { font-size: 24px; } $size: 12px; body { font-size: $size * 2; }

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Functions

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SCSS: Output: .i-red { background: url(red.png); } .i-blue { background: url(blue.png); } @each $c in red, blue { .i-#{$c} { background: url(#{$c}.png); } }

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SCSS: Output: .i-red { color: red; } .i-blue { color: blue; } @mixin i($color) { @if $color == red { color: red; } @else { color: blue; } } .i-red { @include i(red); } .i-blue { @include i; }

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Error Reporting

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CSS Preprocessors +Style Guides = Super Rad

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alistapart.com/articles/writingainterfacestyleguide

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Keep documentation current & useful.

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engineyard.com/blog/2011/front-end-maintainability-with-sass-and-style-guides

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First variables. Then mixins. Then placeholder selectors. Then advanced stuff! Start with Baby Steps

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Sketch it out skitch.com/joesak/di74r/img-028

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Stay organized

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Clarity is beautiful.

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Clarity > Brevity

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File Organization images/ content/ layout/ javascripts/ vendor/ stylesheets/ vendor/

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Stay organized

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If you’re nesting more than 3 levels deep, you’re probably doing something wrong.

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Engine Yard App Cloud, Early 2011

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Engine Yard App Cloud, Early 2011

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jacobrask.github.com/styledocco/

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jacobrask.github.com/styledocco/styledocco/examples/bootstrap/docs/buttons.html

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do.com

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Caption and/or URL

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// ========================================= // DO WEBSITE // ----------------------------------------- // 01. VENDOR FRAMEWORKS @import "compass" @import "compass/css/pie"

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// ---------------------------------- // 02. RESET * +box-sizing(border-box) @import "vendor/normalize"

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// ---------------------------------------------- // 03. DEPENDENCIES // Variables/mixins/placeholders/etc // These don’t emit CSS on their own @import "dependencies/colour" @import "dependencies/measurements" @import "dependencies/typography" @import "dependencies/layout"

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// ---------------------------------- // 04. FOUNDATION // Plain semantic HTML // No classes/IDs are introduced yet. @import "foundation"

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// ---------------------------------- // 05. LAYOUT @import "grid" @import "helpers"

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$breakpoint-iPhone: 20em =respond-to($media) @if $media == iPhone @media #{$breakpoint-iPhone} @content @else if ...

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@for $i from 1 through $column-count +respond-to(iPhone) %grid-#{$i}-iPhone // ... +respond-to(iPhone) .sidebar @extend %grid-3-iPhone

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// ------------------------------------- // 06. COMPONENTS // Reusable modules, components, etc. @import "components/forms" @import "components/buttons" @import "components/messaging" @import "components/pop-stripe"

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// POP STRIPE: https://gist.github.com/3141010 // Thanks goes to Eric A. Meyer // - $position: the starting position or angle of the gradient. // - $colors: a list of all the colors to be used. @function pop-stripe($position, $colors) $colors: if(type-of($colors) != 'list', compact($colors), $colors) $gradient: compact() $width: 100% / length($colors) @for $i from 1 through length($colors) $pop: nth($colors, $i) $new: $pop ($width * ($i - 1)), $pop ($width * $i) $gradient: join($gradient, $new, comma) @return linear-gradient($position, $gradient) .pop-stripe +background-image(pop-stripe(left, ($stripe-colors)))

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do.com

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// ---------------------------------- // 07. THEMES @import "themes/light" @import "themes/dark" @import "themes/orangina"

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// ---------------------------------- // 08. REGIONS @import "regions/header" @import "regions/sidebar" @import "regions/footer"

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// ---------------------------------- // 09. PRINT @import "print"

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// ---------------------------------- // 10. TOOLS <% if Rails.env.development? %> @import "show-grid" <% end %>

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Web standards implementations of nesting, variables, and other preprocessor-related features are being worked into CSS as we speak. CSS Preprocessors are making CSS better.

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What else?

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smacss.com

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stuffandnonsense.co.uk/projects/320andup

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susy.oddbird.net

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github.com/thomas-mcdonald/bootstrap-sass

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blesscss.com

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Just give it a try!

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sass-lang.com

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Team Sass Design FTW!

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@TeamSassDesign

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#teamSass

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Be regular and orderly in your life so that you may be violent and original in your work.” ” —Gustave Flaubert