How do you scale CSS for millions of visitors or thousands of pages? The slides from Nicole's presentation at Web Directions North in Denver will show you how to use Object Oriented CSS to write fast, maintainable, standards-based front end code. Adds much needed predictability to CSS so that even beginners can participate in writing beautiful, standards-compliant, fast websites.

1. OBJECT ORIENTED CSS
for high performance web applications and sites.
Nicole Sullivan
Monday, February 16, 2009

2. Web Dev Philosophy
• Work out of respect for the design.
• Designers make our code as beautiful and
clever on the outside as it is on the inside.
• Respect the original design vision.
consistent design = clean code = fast site.
Monday, February 16, 2009

3. “JAVASCRIPT DOESN’T SUCK
You’re just doing it wrong.” -- Doug Crockford
Monday, February 16, 2009

4. “JAVASCRIPT DOESN’T SUCK
You’re just doing it wrong.” -- Doug Crockford
Monday, February 16, 2009

5. CSS
“JAVASCRIPT DOESN’T SUCK
You’re just doing it wrong.” -- Doug Crockford
Monday, February 16, 2009

6. REQUIRE EXPERT ABILITY
JUST TO GET STARTED.
this is not a sign of maturity.
Monday, February 16, 2009

7. FILE SIZE JUST KEEPS
GETTING BIGGER
As the site evolves we continuously modify the CSS.
Monday, February 16, 2009

8. CODE RE-USE IS ALMOST
NONEXISTENT
people don’t trust other developers code.
Monday, February 16, 2009

9. CODE IS TOO FRAGILE.
Even the cleanest code gets ruined by the first non-expert to
touch it.
Monday, February 16, 2009

10. WHAT IS THE MOST
IMPORTANT MISTAKE
TALENTED CODERS ARE
MAKING?
Writing really clever modules.
Monday, February 16, 2009

11. THE SIZE OF THEIR CSS
WILL INCREASE
in a 1:1 relationship with the number of blocks, pages, and
complexity of content.
Monday, February 16, 2009

12. BUT, WE WANT A LOT!
and sometimes those goals conflict.
Monday, February 16, 2009

13. and sometimes those goals conflict.
Monday, February 16, 2009

14. Monday, February 16, 2009

15. Modular - combinable ,
reusable, extensible. Light -
One to many relationship
between CSS and potential
layouts. Fast - Minimal HTTP
requests & minimal size.
Future-proof - maintainable,
semantic, standards oriented,
prepared for future-browsers,
redesign compatible. Visually
interesting and adaptable -
respectful of UED and
mar keting constraints.
Simplifies and speeds CSS
development. Accessible -
SEO, Screen readers, etc.
Monday, February 16, 2009

16. Modular - combinable ,
reusable, extensible. Light -
One to many relationship
between CSS and potential
layouts. Fast - Minimal HTTP
requests & minimal size.
Future-proof - maintainable,
semantic, standards oriented,
prepared for future-browsers,
redesign compatible. Visually
interesting and adaptable -
respectful of UED and
mar keting constraints.
Simplifies and speeds CSS
development. Accessible -
SEO, Screen readers, etc.
Monday, February 16, 2009

17. SOLUTION
Object Oriented CSS
Monday, February 16, 2009

18. TWO MAIN PRINCIPLES
1. Separate Structure and Skin
2. Separate Container and Content
Monday, February 16, 2009

19. 10 BEST PRACTICES
1. Create a component 6. Minimize selectors
library
7. Separate structure and skin
2. Use consistent semantic
styles 8. Separate container and
content
3. Design modules to be
transparent on the inside. 9. Extend objects by applying
multiple classes to an
4. Be flexible. element
5. Learn to love grids. 10. Use reset and fonts from
YUI
Monday, February 16, 2009

20. 9 PITFALLS
1. Location dependent styles. 5. Don’t sprite every image
together (unless your has
very few pages).
2. Avoid specifying what tag
a class applies.
6. Avoid height alignment
3. Avoid IDs to style inside
the main content areas. 7. Text as text, not as images.
4. Avoid drop shadows and 8. Redundancy
rounded corners over
irregular backgrounds. 9. Avoid premature
optimization.
Monday, February 16, 2009

21. CREATE A COMPONENT
LIBRARY
of reusable “legos”
Monday, February 16, 2009

22. Components
are like legos
Mix and match to create diverse
and interesting pages.
Monday, February 16, 2009

23. SEPARATE
CONTAINER AND
CONTENT
break the dependency between the container module
and the content objects it contains.
Monday, February 16, 2009

24. Monday, February 16, 2009

25. Contour blocks Background blocks Content Objects -
headings, paragraphs, lists, headers,
footers, buttons, etc.
Capital of the Canterbury region and the largest city
on the South Island (population just over 300,000)
exudes a palpable air of gentility and a connectedness
with the mother country.
Read more...
X X
1:n
Monday, February 16, 2009

26. Build HTML from the
component library.
New pages should not generally require additional CSS
Monday, February 16, 2009

27. SITE-WIDE LEGOS
• Headings
• Lists (e.g. action list, external link list, product list, or
feature list)
• Module headers and footers
• Grids
• Buttons
Monday, February 16, 2009

28. Heading Level 1
Heading Level 2
HEADINGS Heading Level 3
Getting the look and feel you
want with the semantics you Heading Level 4
need.
Heading Level 5
Heading Level 6
Monday, February 16, 2009

29. ‣ Toggle List
Default List
‣ List Item 2
List Item 2
‣ List Item 3
List Item 3
LISTS ❖ Action List
❖ List Item 2
Should be available to all ❖ List Item 3
modules on the page.
Monday, February 16, 2009

30. MEDIA
Extending objects, a simple
example.
Monday, February 16, 2009

31. <!-- media -->
<div class=quot;media media_extquot;>
<img class=quot;fixedMediaquot; src=quot;myImg.pngquot; />
<div class=quot;textquot;>
...
</div>
</div>
Monday, February 16, 2009

32. SEPARATE
STRUCTURE AND
SKIN
abstract the structure of the block from the skin which
is being applied.
Monday, February 16, 2009

33. block
inner
hd
BLOCK
bd
class can be extended by
adding additional classes to
the block element. ft
Monday, February 16, 2009

34. Reusing elements
makes them
performance “freebies”
Monday, February 16, 2009

35. Legos first
Design individual pages only once all the legos have
been defined.
Monday, February 16, 2009

36. Pitfalls
What not to do.
Monday, February 16, 2009

37. Avoid redundancy
Monday, February 16, 2009

38. Nearly identical
modules
Headings 3 and 5 are too similar.
Monday, February 16, 2009

39. Rule of thumb:
If two modules look too similar to include on
the same page, they are too similar to include
together in a site, choose one!
Monday, February 16, 2009

40. USE CONSISTENT
SEMANTIC STYLES
Monday, February 16, 2009

41. Heading should not become a
A Heading
in another part of the page.
Monday, February 16, 2009

42. Consistency
Writing more rules to overwrite
the crazy rules from before.
e.g. Heading should behave
predictably in any module.
Monday, February 16, 2009

43. How about an
example?
Yahoo! Personal Finance
Monday, February 16, 2009

44. 2+ different tab
styles. Could they
use the same
images?
Monday, February 16, 2009

45. 3 contour
components are
too similar. Chose
one.
Monday, February 16, 2009

46. Changes in module
width, background
color, or background
image are an excellent
example of module
reuse.
Monday, February 16, 2009

47. Mix and match
Container and content objects to achieve high
performance design.
Monday, February 16, 2009

48. DESIGN MODULES TO
BE TRANSPARENT
on the inside.
Monday, February 16, 2009

49. Making it look
fab
Requires careful choice of pixels.
Bonus: Consider PNG8 for
progressive enhancement
http://alistapart.com/articles/mountaintop/
Monday, February 16, 2009

50. Pitfalls
Variable or gradient
backgrounds.
Monday, February 16, 2009

51. NEVER SPECIFY
ELEMENT
Do: .myClass {...}
Don’t: div.myClass {...}
Exception: Extending a Extend the error class to
class to work on several apply to strong or div
elements. elements specify the
specific tag in the rule that
e.g..error{} which, by declares only the values
that are different than the
default, applies to a P.
default value.
Monday, February 16, 2009

52. BE FLEXIBLE.
Extensible height and width.
Monday, February 16, 2009

53. • Grids control width
• Content controls height
Monday, February 16, 2009

54. LEARN TO LOVE
GRIDS.
Monday, February 16, 2009

55. MARK-UP AND CSS
become predictable
Monday, February 16, 2009

56. UML TO DESCRIBE
both HTML and CSS
Monday, February 16, 2009

57. TEACHING OO CSS
To designers and engineers
Monday, February 16, 2009

58. A NATURAL PROGRESSION
from simple to more complex tasks.
Monday, February 16, 2009

59. CSS WISH LIST
So, maybe CSS isn’t perfect.
Monday, February 16, 2009

60. CSS WISH LIST
So, maybe CSS isn’t perfect.
1. Extending objects - possible to make “sale module” inherit
from “module”.
.module{}
.saleModule{extends: module;}
Monday, February 16, 2009

61. CSS WISH LIST
So, maybe CSS isn’t perfect.
2. Or, class-order should impact the cascade.
<div class=“module saleMod ducati”> ... </div>
Monday, February 16, 2009

62. CSS WISH LIST
So, maybe CSS isn’t perfect.
saleMod
Ducati Superbike 848
3. Proximity should
The 848 is Ducati's most impressive
middleweight Superbike ever. Its exceptional
lightweight and legendary Ducati chassis set-up
impact the cascade. combined with the smooth and thrilling torque
delivery of the L-Twin Desmo provide the ideal
way to enter the world of Ducati Superbikes.
Nested modules, first
one last in the CSS. Ducati Superbike 848
The 848 is Ducati's most impressive
middleweight Superbike ever. Its exceptional
lightweight and legendary Ducati chassis set-up
combined with the smooth and thrilling torque
delivery of the L-Twin Desmo.
.protectiveGear{...}
.saleMod{...}
Arai RX7 Corsair Full Face Helmet - Haga Fire
and Ice
The 848 is Ducati's most impressive
middleweight Superbike ever.
protectiveGear
Monday, February 16, 2009

63. PHOTO CREDITS
“You Crack Me Up” by http://flickr.com/photos/nickwheeleroz/2474196275/in/photostream/
•
“red lego” by http://flickr.com/photos/niznoz/5753993/
•
“Pablo’s cubism period began at three” by http://flickr.com/photos/wwworks/2475349116/in/
•
set-72157608035966422/
“Kuwait water tower” by http://flickr.com/photos/asam/327911794/
•
idigit_teddy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/design_inspiration/238542495/
•
lucianvenutian: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucianvenutian/1142630637/
•
Gimli_36: http://www.flickr.com/photos/navillot/1878124531/
•
NathanFromDeVryEET: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thatguyfromcchs08/2300190277/
•
Stabilo Boss: http://flickr.com/photos/stabilo-boss/101793494/in/set-72057594060779001/
•
Monday, February 16, 2009

64. Let’s keep talking...
http://stubbornella.org
nicole@stubbornella.org
“stubbornella” on the web...
twitter, dopplr, slideshare, everywhere...
Monday, February 16, 2009