Best Practices: CSS

Use a reset or normalize CSS file as your starting point.

This will give you a consistent base to work from, and will help avoid cross-browser differences.

Use semantic HTML5 markup.

This will make your code more readable and easier to maintain.

Don’t use inline styles.

Inline styles are hard to maintain and can lead to specificity issues. Instead, use CSS classes.

Use a CSS pre-processor.

Pre-processors will make your life easier by allowing you to use variables, mixins, and other fun features.

Keep your CSS selectors short and sweet.

The shorter the selector, the faster the browser can parse it.

Don’t use !important unless absolutely necessary.

If you find yourself using !important a lot, chances are your CSS is too specific. Try to use more generic selectors instead.

Organize your CSS rules logically.

Group related rules together so they are easy to find and maintain.

Use comments liberally.

Comments will help you and others understand your code better.

Minify your CSS before deploying it to production.

Minification will reduce the file size, which can help improve loading times.

Use a CSS linter.

Linters will help you catch errors and enforce coding standards. They can be a valuable tool in your workflow.

By following these best practices, you’ll end up with cleaner, more maintainable CSS code. Your team will thank you for it!