How to understand CSS

We often learn CSS via looking for solutions to problems: We need to create a certain layout, or a particular animation, and so we go look for the exact CSS that will make it so. Many web developers today started their careers using a framework, and so much of their experience of CSS is in tweaking the code written by someone else. Too much time is spent trying to overwrite styles and make customizations, without an understanding of what the underlying framework is actually doing.

However, CSS has changed in the past few years, evolving into a system which can be understood like any other language. We do CSS and our own productivity a disservice if we continue to take a piecemeal approach to the language. By learning the key elements that underpin this system, you will find that the rest of CSS falls into place.

In this talk, Rachel Andrew will set out the core concepts that enable a proper understanding of CSS. Whether you are a beginner or have been wrangling front-ends for years, you will find something here that will make your life much easier.