<< The CSS Learning Group public

Discussion Board

ask questions, discuss topics, solve problems

This is a public Discussion Area  publicRSS

Thread

    • What was your "a ha!" moment?
      Thread posted Mar 19 by Mordy Golding
      340 Views, 2 Comments
      Title:
      What was your "a ha!" moment?
      Content:

      Many people have misconceptions of what CSS is. Many think it's just like InDesign's Paragraph Styles feature, but that's only one small portion of it. Many others are baffled when they try to grapple with things like the cascade and specificity. And so on.

      But at some point, a light bulb goes on in your head and you "get it". Some "a ha" moment that when you look back, is that defining moment when you made sense of it all. Maybe you didn't figure everything out then, but you understood what everyone else was talking about when they told you "you gotta learn this CSS thing...".

      So if you've been using CSS, please share your "a ha" moment. Maybe your experience can help others get on board more quickly. More importantly, we can all learn a nuance or aspect that maybe we weren't aware of before.

    Comments

    • I think my aha moment came in spurts, to be honest. I think truly understanding what a DIV was gave me a better understanding of expanding my brain to think outside the concept of "InDesign Paragraph Styles" but there definitely was one moment where everything clicked. A moment where I literally had to get up from my chair and walk around the room a few times to let the reality of it sink in. After that moment, I saw a marked increase in my ability to work with and to understand CSS.

      That moment was when I really understood the "cascade". What led me up to that point was an article I read from Cameron Moll (it's a great read) The specific part that made me get up from my chair was the discussion about reset.css. We'll talk plenty about this as we learn because I think it's so important, but what shook me was WHY a reset.css was needed in the first place. And the thought of applying multiple style sheets to the same page. It just didn't make any sense. And when I finally understood the nature of the cascade -- of everything based on everything -- it was like the clouds parted and the sun shone brightly.

    • Like Mordy, my "aha!" moment evolved in spurts and fits of frustration and terror. I realized the power of CSS upon my first visit to Dave Shea's CSS Zen Garden, although I was too lazy to actually dive in and try my hand at coding. I would stare at stylesheets with awe and wonder, but still didn't take the time to construct one of my own. Call me the relunctant designer.

      Sometime later I excitedly stumbled upon Shea's book "The Zen of CSS Design: Visual Enlightenment for the Web" and thought its secrets would reveal themself to me by osmosis. I tried nearly every code editor I could download for free and purchased a few others somehow thinking the tool would write the code while I reaped the rewards. Then it hit me: "I'm not going to learn until I get off my butt and code something." 

      I'm not sure how long it took, but one day I suddenly realized that Dreamweaver had been the long lost love of my life, and that its CSS Styles panel helped you apply all of Zeldman's, Shea's, Moll's, and Meyer's teachings. That was the moment! My confidence began to grow, my fear of code began to wane, I discovered Notepad ++, Coda, CSS Edit, and the very kewl and powerful features of Firebug for Firefox. While I don't profess to be anywhere near expert, once I began examining the stylesheets of favorite sites ("How they do that?"), and practicing examples as handed down by The Layout Reservoir, my use and practice improved almost overnight. 

      I still struggle with floats and nested divs, and there's hours yet to be consumed practicing and learning new tricks and solutions, but newcommers are wholeheartedly encouraged to release their fears; for there is CSS goodness just waiting for your discovery and eventual exploitation.