Why Good CSS Still Matters in 2015

Everyone’s rushing to frameworks—but we’re forgetting how powerful plain CSS still is.

Frameworks can help teams move quickly, but they do not remove the need to understand the language underneath them. Good CSS is still the difference between a layout that adapts gracefully and one held together by increasingly specific apologies.

CSS rewards people who understand its model more than people who accumulate workarounds. The cascade, intrinsic sizing and modern layout tools solve a surprising number of problems once we stop fighting them.

I have learned to be suspicious of advice that only works in a tidy example. Real projects come with history, deadlines, uneven confidence and requirements that move while you are looking at them.

Front-end work has a habit of looking simple from a distance. The browser then introduces real content, small screens, old devices, keyboard navigation and somebody using the product in a way nobody drew in the design file.

The details will change from project to project. The underlying habit of paying attention travels well.