3 ms·

What’s not simple?

• tannhaeuser 8y ago
  CSS has spectacularly bad ergonomics and cognitive issues; for app development, it's particularly apparent with styles all over the place and having far-distance effects, and in any case a giant "impedance mismatch" to what you're doing in the main parts of your code. It might not be so obvious if you're working daily on CSS, but for casual use or use within a team with rotating roles it's really bad. It also doesn't help that CSS's basic premise is flawed, and the fake narrative behind CSS's origin and role is insulting to any thinking person: that instead of typed markup attributes for some reason it's better to use an ever-growing bunch of ad-hoc micro syntax with poor checking and typing, and then postulating an arbitrary "semantic HTML" ideal after-the-fact. HTML is as syntactic as it gets; as it should, it being a standard in information presentation. CSS is also incredibly bloated. CSS has a serious issue with Stockholm syndrome (saying this as someone who also fell victim to it): once you "get" CSS and its many, many quirks, you're prone to dick-around with your CSS knowledge as a trophy to those who don't have the time and inclination to dabble around with it. In any case, CSS is seriously out of whack with the simplicity of HTML.
  • pbowyer 8y ago
    I was going to disagree but... > It also doesn't help that CSS's basic premise is flawed, and the fake narrative behind CSS's origin and role is insulting to any thinking person: that instead of typed markup attributes for some reason it's better to use an ever-growing bunch of ad-hoc micro syntax with poor checking and typing, and then postulating an arbitrary "semantic HTML" ideal after-the-fact. HTML is as syntactic as it gets; as it should, it being a standard in information presentation. On reflection I agree. I understand this approach when it's only document styling (here's a ruleset for h1, h2 etc kept separate from the HTML) but as soon as you start adding (multiple) classes... well yeah. I fell into the yawning crevice that's semantic CSS, where "These class names give the HTML meaning". That and semantic HTML zealotry took up too much of my teenage years when I could've been making stuff, and have left me suspicious of any tech idea proclaimed with religious overtones.
    • tannhaeuser 8y ago
      Yes, and the ideal of "semantic HTML" might even point at a deep misunderstanding of what's required for a content-delivery standard. Consider how the MP3 standards were created: by specifying a decoder from bits and bytes to sound, so that we can have devices that "play" content many years from now. WHATWG's "Living Standard" thing and the ongoing sugaring of JavaScript syntax and other added complexity is completely antithetical to this. > have left me suspicious of any tech idea proclaimed with religious overtones If for nothing else, that's a valuable lesson learned in it's own right :)
    • rimliu 8y ago
      CSS clicked with me right away. As for semantic CSS (not really css, class names are HTML) it made sense, especially when I sawy .green10px being neither green nor 10px.