css usage... questions

phrakture · 2005-05-16 18:36:27

ok, I'm not visually inclined... I have some css questions.. about stuff I don't understand.

Why is it better to do:

tr.headingRow {...}

than:

.headingRow {...}

yeah I understand that there's implied usage in the first example... but really, it's not going to cause issues...

Number two... why do people insist on stuff like this:

tr.headingRow td img.customImg { ... }

over:

img.customImg { ... }

Now, I can understand the nesting, only use the customImg inside the headingRow and a td... but, come on people... that's just so restrictive to me... what if you move that td out to a div? you now have to change your stylesheet as well... but with example #2 nothing changes...

some of the stuff I see is rediculous...

td.blah { color: white; }
div.abracadabra { color: white; }
span.customSpan {color: white; }
... etc ...

and this could all be replaced with:

.white { color: white; }

and you save a mess of lines...

so, wtf... can someone explain this to me... who deemed this "proper" usage?

i3839 · 2005-05-16 19:08:37

You should use it only when needed of course, if plain .something {} works then it's just stupid.

As far as I know it's mainly used to override an existing rule. e.g. a global td rule to markup all td's in one sweep, and then specific .something rd {} rules to single certain exceptions out.

I've had once a css-only dropdown menu implementation (thus avoiding JS), and there the more obscure things are really needed, but IE didn't eat it.

cactus · 2005-05-16 19:11:20

No idea. I generally make my scopes large as well.
I mean, it is not like I run out of names for things, it is not like I am trying to encapsulate things in an OO paradigm (no data hiding possible in css), and I generall prefer simplicity to excessive verbosity.

I only use the nesting to classify elements that I don't name.
'tbody div' for example. But never for named objects. That is just silly to me.

heh. Silly phrakture. Inducing me to rant.

phrakture · 2005-05-16 19:34:58

see that's what I was thinking - only use nesting when non-id'd - but then you see stupid stuff like:

table tr td { ... }

...sigh....
I think the problem I have wrapping my head around what people do sometimes is that I forget "web designer != developer" and these people don't think like someone who knows how to code...

i generally have a whole mess of .someRule rules, and rarely classify them by element type

cactus · 2005-05-16 20:20:40

yeah. occasionally I will do something equally stupid like..
#foo div {}

lol.
*shakes head and goes back to his corner*

FUBAR · 2005-05-29 15:05:37

I never even heard of

.something {}

I guess they skipped that option in the webdesign course at my school.

phrakture · 2005-05-29 15:52:24

the "." names apply to <tag class="something" />
"." is for the class attribute

lanrat · 2005-05-30 10:17:09

I can only imagine this could be useful with very very complex webpages as a kind of optimisation (?). But this would also introduce so much complexity with scripting that It could only make programming more difficult IMO.

I'm mostly using .something {} syntax and it's clear and optimised enough for me.

FUBAR · 2005-05-30 16:04:47

phrakture wrote:

the "." names apply to <tag class="something" />
"." is for the class attribute

Ooh OK. So

.fancymenu { }

would work for

<p class="fancymenu">blah</p>
<div class="fancymenu">blah</div>
<ul class="fancymenu">blah</ul>
...

That's actually pretty cool.

phrakture · 2005-05-30 17:15:06

yeah, the .something {} is what I use 90% of the time, because I don't need to worry about what element I'm styling...

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#1 2005-05-16 18:36:27

css usage... questions

#2 2005-05-16 19:08:37

Re: css usage... questions

#3 2005-05-16 19:11:20

Re: css usage... questions

#4 2005-05-16 19:34:58

Re: css usage... questions

#5 2005-05-16 20:20:40

Re: css usage... questions

#6 2005-05-29 15:05:37

Re: css usage... questions

#7 2005-05-29 15:52:24

Re: css usage... questions

#8 2005-05-30 10:17:09

Re: css usage... questions

#9 2005-05-30 16:04:47

Re: css usage... questions

#10 2005-05-30 17:15:06

Re: css usage... questions

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