Written by Jon Bergan on the 01/07/2007
Cascading Style Sheets, otherwise known as CSS, are a method of styling virtually any element found in a website. They allow web developers to style and format web pages to precision using a standard format that is recognised by the W3C. CSS is literally just like an onion in that it allows designers to layer styles upon one another to form a complete styling definition for the entire site.
First of all, it is important to understand that websites are not just a bunch of text objects thrown together on the screen. They are a graphically driven content rich medium that support various element types such as text, images, movies, flash animations, databases, form objects and more. For this reason alone, web designers needed a simple way of styling and formatting each of these elements that would not only be recognised by all web browsers but would also be user friendly. The answer to their calls was CSS and it's definitely here to stay.
CSS is favored for a number of reasons, however one of the primary factors that contribute to its popularity is that it is now an industry standard. Websites can meet this standard and it ensures both the developer and the user that the site will appear exactly the same in every web browser. Unfortunately, due to browsers incompatibility with all CSS methods and their inadequate approach to supporting the technology, not all browsers display CSS as they should. This is still a huge issue, however it is slowly being addressed.
If you are looking to have a website developed in the near future, you will want to ensure that your developer completely understands CSS and its importance on the web. Your website should be standards compliant and should also be written in such a way that ensures it will be downloaded as efficiently as possible. A lightweight yet beautiful website is hard to come by, however with CSS, it is quite possible. We are at that point in time where designers are only just starting to embrace CSS for what it truly is and as a business owner making an investment, you want to ensure that your designer completely understands this technology.
So, why is CSS just like an onion? Well, because styles can cascade from their parent element to their child elements thus allowing developers to layer up on styles. This provides a lightweight stylesheet that can be quickly downloaded on almost any connection to style the entire site in seconds. Any designer can code a CSS file but only a true CSS developer can design a CSS file that will style your site without forming a huge file. The smaller the CSS file the better.
At the end of the day, your developer should understand the importance of CSS and its effects on your website. They should understand how CSS can help with Search Engine Optimisation and how they can utilise the technology to create not only a beautiful site for the end user but also an elegantly written piece of code for other developers. The world needs to embrace CSS. From designers to software vendors - they all need to contribute to make this thing truly work. With CSS, the future of the World Wide Web is definitely an amazing one.
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