Weighing in a little over 1,100 pages, The Fourth Edition of CSS: The Definitive Guide is a lot to digest. We’re pleased to offer you this amuse-bouche, of sorts, on compositing and blending.
Topic: Code
Why Mutation Can Be Scary
Unexpected changes in your JavaScript code can be a real headache. When working with objects, it can be even harder to prevent unintended mutation. Zell Liew shows us some tricks (and libraries) to prevent these unintended changes and ensure stability when working with objects.
My Grandfather’s Travel Logs and Other Repetitive Tasks
When your design project involves unconventional data, how do you structure that data to make manipulating it less tedious? Daniel Warren faced this question when he decided to create an infographic showcasing the decades of extensive travel his grandfather had documented in handwritten journals. Learn about the JavaScript techniques Warren used to minimize repetitive tasks and give his grandfather’s travel logs a new life.
The Best Request Is No Request, Revisited
Now that HTTP/2 is enjoying greater ubiquity than ever, it’s especially important to challenge the once unquestionable rule of resource bundling in client side performance. Join Stefan Baumgartner as he walks you through the potential pitfalls and ill effects of bundling in HTTP/2 environments.
Faux Grid Tracks
The only way to win IS to play. Join Eric Meyer on a journey through the inner workings of CSS Grid as he tests various techniques to build a tic-tac-toe board filled with content. Hearkening back to the early days of CSS and A List Apart, these playful hacks rekindle a spirit of experimentation.
Ten Extras for Great API Documentation
In this follow-up to her first article on the essentials of a good API, Diana Lakatos dives deep on helpful extras that will take your API documentation to the next level. Her tips will help you make your API more usable and readable, imbue it with personality, and explore beyond the basics.
Coding with Clarity
Always writing the clearest possible code is what helps separate the great developers from the merely good. It cuts confusion, reduces headaches for current and future developers, and saves everybody time in the long run. And though not always as easy as it sounds, with good forward planning, a logical approach to code structure, and adherence to a few guiding principles, coding with greater clarity is something all developers can achieve.
The New CSS Layout, An Excerpt
In this excerpt from Chapter 3 of Rachel Andrew’s The New CSS Layout, she shows us how to create a basic 3-column grid using using CSS Grid Layout. She then dives into how to span elements across multiple columns and rows as well as how to use named areas to describe your layout right in your CSS.
The Story of CSS Grid, from Its Creators
Designers have used grids for centuries. And after more than 20 years of waiting, they are finally here for the browser. This is the story of CSS Grid. It took a lot of people in the right place and at the right time to make it happen.
What I Talk About When I Talk About Sorting: Untangling Array#sort
Javascript’s Array#sort can be a powerful tool in your belt, but it can also trip you up if you wield it without proper planning and a deeper understanding of its strengths and weaknesses. Claudia Hernández takes a deeper look at how sorting works across different engines, how to create custom sorting functions, and helps you sharpen your sorting skills.
