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Ask HN: Book Recommendations to Master CSS

2 points by xupybd 4y ago

I find CSS confusing and rely on frameworks like Bulma and Bootstrap. I want to get a deeper understanding. Are there any good books out there?

johncoltrane 4y ago
The only thing you may master by reading books is reading books. You will master CSS, if such a thing is even possible, by _doing_ CSS. Lots of it and over a long period of time. If you are struggling with the basics, this hands-on tutorial on MDN seems to be a good start: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/CSS https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/CSS. From there, it will just be practice, practice, practice…
- xupybd 4y ago
  I've found the opposite. Blind practice was enough for me in the first decade of my career but really understanding a topic requires more than just my viewpoint. Several books help me learn what the experts think.
  - brudgers 4y ago
    I've found both. Books are a good way to avoid frustration while learning. Doing entails embracing frustration...which is a skill. Play is the way to avoid frustration when doing. Experimenting for the sake of learning...the agile idea of a spike...is hard to stop and do. Reading a bit and then stopping and playing is the best of both worlds for me. YMMV>
    - xupybd 4y ago
      Yeah very true. Applying what you've read is the only way to retain the knowledge. Sometimes it's the only way to test to see if you actually understood what you've read. But if I just charge in and practice with just the docs I end up with suboptimal results.
bananarchist 4y ago
I would suggest first identifying what you find confusing and starting there. What are the features that keep fooling you? The box model? The cascade? Flex axes? Specificity? As a declarative language that is really intuitive to start, so simple to get so far, and one which must maintain perfect backwards compatibility with twenty years of web design, so many elements of fundamental functionality are never really studied by casual practitioners.

2 points by xupybd 4y ago

I find CSS confusing and rely on frameworks like Bulma and Bootstrap. I want to get a deeper understanding. Are there any good books out there?

johncoltrane 4y ago

The only thing you may master by reading books is reading books. You will master CSS, if such a thing is even possible, by _doing_ CSS. Lots of it and over a long period of time. If you are struggling with the basics, this hands-on tutorial on MDN seems to be a good start: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/CSS https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/CSS. From there, it will just be practice, practice, practice…

xupybd 4y ago
I've found the opposite. Blind practice was enough for me in the first decade of my career but really understanding a topic requires more than just my viewpoint. Several books help me learn what the experts think.
- brudgers 4y ago
  I've found both. Books are a good way to avoid frustration while learning. Doing entails embracing frustration...which is a skill. Play is the way to avoid frustration when doing. Experimenting for the sake of learning...the agile idea of a spike...is hard to stop and do. Reading a bit and then stopping and playing is the best of both worlds for me. YMMV>
  - xupybd 4y ago
    Yeah very true. Applying what you've read is the only way to retain the knowledge. Sometimes it's the only way to test to see if you actually understood what you've read. But if I just charge in and practice with just the docs I end up with suboptimal results.

bananarchist 4y ago

I would suggest first identifying what you find confusing and starting there. What are the features that keep fooling you? The box model? The cascade? Flex axes? Specificity? As a declarative language that is really intuitive to start, so simple to get so far, and one which must maintain perfect backwards compatibility with twenty years of web design, so many elements of fundamental functionality are never really studied by casual practitioners.