Understanding The Importance of CSS In Web Development
We are now living in modern times influenced heavily by the online realm. Given that today’s consumers spend almost all their day scrolling on screens, businesses have had to move online as well to catch their attention. To reach their business goals faster, brands belonging to almost all industries are now heavily investing in building an effective online presence. The best way to increase brand visibility is through an exceptional website; a website that not only embodies the essence and the purpose of the brand but also facilitates a seamless user experience.
The need to build user-centric websites has opened up new avenues for UI developers. For any and every web application project, two of the best tools that developers love to leverage are HTML and CSS. In the grander scheme of things, both HTML & CSS are responsible for designing a website in a way that attracts the right target audience. If you are new to the world of CSS, then this will help you familiarize yourself with the concept of CSS and its many features in detail.
What Is CSS?
CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheet. It is essentially a language that can help make web pages look more presentable. In a broader sense, it is regarded as more of a personalization tool to refine the look & feel of the website. An expert full-stack developer is expected to gain mastery over the CSS programming language to build user-friendly websites that are just as intuitive as they are visually appealing.
Why Is CSS Useful?
CSS was first developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in the year 1996. Until the inception of this revolutionary programming language, the web pages defined the word ‘basic’. The websites only featured a certain set of functions and were simple in appearance, as simple as plain text on white backgrounds.
The browsers that were popular back then displayed websites that were text-heavy with a few images and links to other hypertext pages. There was little to no visual appeal to the pages as all users could see were paragraphs on paragraphs of text in columns.
When CSS was introduced to the world, it changed the way of websites for the better. The programming language presented developers with a whole new realm of possibilities to build dynamic websites that spoke volumes of the brand, and it continues to do so to date.
With CSS, developers can experiment with different aspects of website design, for example:
- They can explore diverse fonts and not bank only on the default for the browser
- They can explore different colors and sizes of text, along with links
- They can easily contain web page elements in boxes and float those boxes to specific positions on the page
- They can paint backgrounds with the desired colors as well
How Does CSS Work?
Given that CSS works in sync with HTML, it is important to first know the basics of HTML to truly understand how CSS works. Here is how it works – developers follow a ‘box model’ approach when it comes to building web pages. A web page is essentially a set of boxes put together in a way that these boxes are placed in relation to the other. Each of the boxes is dedicated to specific elements that are to appear on the page.
For example, if a web page has a footer section, there will be a box dedicated to it. Within this box, you will further find smaller boxes that will contain the brand logo, social media icons, contact information and address of the company, inquiry forms, and such. Working with CSS allows developers to assign styles to the boxes. This means that they can designate a particular color, font type, and font size to all the text pieces and backgrounds as well.
Moreover, there is a fascinating reason why this language programming has the term cascading in its name. It is to denote that the font styles applied to the footer, cascade down to all the elements contained inside the footer; meaning that the text or the CTAs inside the footer will all adopt the same color and font style. CSS also shelters different types, let’s take a look at them each one of them.
What Are The Types Of CSS?
There are three types of CSS which are given below – Inline CSS, Internal or Embedded CSS, and External CSS. Each type features unique form and functionalities and serves different web application requirements.
Inline CSS:
In this type, the CSS property in the body section is attached with an element. You can style HTML elements using Inline CSS. It is also a popular method to insert style sheets in an HTML document. There is one thing you have to be mindful of – if you want to use inline CSS, you should use the style attribute to the relevant tag.
Internal or Embedded CSS:
This style of CSS comes in handy when you have to specifically style a single HTML document. An internal CSS is defined in the section of an HTML page, within a
External CSS:
In this type, there is a separate CSS file that can be accessed via a link in the head section of the web page. CSS property is written in a separate file with a .css extension and has to be linked to the HTML document using the link tag. Multiple web pages can use the same link to access the stylesheet. Here the style can only be set once for each element, and it will be applied across all web pages.
What Are The Benefits Of CSS?
Makes Website More Inviting:
One of the most important features of CSS is that it enables websites to interact with the users and keep them engaged, long enough for them to take action. It renders websites more flexible in terms of design as well as functionality.
Developers get to adorn web pages with dynamic elements that make websites more user-centric. They get to experiment with many layouts and create different styles for each page of the website. Interactive websites would still be a distant dream without CSS.
Helps Add A Touch Of Dynamism:
CSS facilitates the creation of web pages that feature a different look, despite being a part of the same website. Developers can experiment with different shades of the same color. This way they can make the website look more interesting without deviating from the brand tonality set by the client.
They can also transform the CTAs into floating elements on the website. As users navigate through websites, the CTA remains within their periphery at all times in the corner of the web page, making it easier for users to take action.
Enhances Page Loading Speed:
Another one of the key benefits that CSS brings to the table is the ability to improve website loading speed. It greatly influences the user journey. The best part about CSS is that browsers download its rules once and cache them for loading all the pages of a website.
This makes it easier for users to navigate smoothly even if they have low-end devices, and are located in regions with unstable networks.
Enables Easy Website Modifications:
The rules created by CSS can be applied to multiple elements simultaneously throughout the website, meaning that one change can be applied to multiple pages applied in a single go. Developers do not have to write repetitive codes to implement the same change. This accelerates the development phase.
Is CSS important to learn? Absolutely yes. All aspiring developers who want to excel in the UI development field have to equip themselves with refined CSS skills. How does it help? CSS helps developers build websites that are customized to the clients’ specific needs or wants or redesign existing websites at a quicker pace.
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In the age of digital transformations, almost all organizations are set to launch new computer systems and web-based applications to acquire a competitive advantage to survive and thrive. As you are reading this, the demand for expert User Interface (UI) Developers is rising in the domains of web, software, and mobile application advancement.
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