You really want to develop a mental model of a CSS engine, so you can “run” code in your head. This will allow you to read code and have a high chance of predi

You really want to develop a mental model of a CSS engine, so you can “run” code in your head. This will allow you to read code and have a high chance of predicting what it will look like before running it. Your probably not developing this mental model for some reason. You should try to explain why you are seeing a visual result, and keep a notebook of how CSS primitives work together. For example, why are there 10 ways to vertically align, and why do they all work? Once you collect enough primitives, you can use them together to design a layout. You could try developing your own css layout engine which would force you to understand the rules.