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

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

"JAVASCRIPT DOESN'T SUCK
You're just doing it wrong." -- Doug Crockford Monday, February 16, 2009

"JAVASCRIPT DOESN'T SUCK
You're just doing it wrong." -- Doug Crockford Monday, February 16, 2009

CSS "JAVASCRIPT DOESN'T SUCK
You're just doing it wrong." -- Doug Crockford Monday, February 16, 2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monday, February 16, 2009

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

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

SOLUTION
Object Oriented CSS Monday, February 16, 2009

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

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

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

CREATE A COMPONENT LIBRARY
of reusable "legos" Monday, February 16, 2009

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

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

Monday, February 16, 2009

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

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

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

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

‣ 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

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

<!-- 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

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

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

Reusing elements
makes them performance "freebies" Monday, February 16, 2009

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

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

Avoid redundancy
Monday, February 16, 2009

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

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

USE CONSISTENT SEMANTIC STYLES
Monday, February 16, 2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LEARN TO LOVE GRIDS.
Monday, February 16, 2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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