Dirk Jesse’s extensive (X)HTML/CSS Framework offers the whole bunch of default-templates for a number of simple or more complex web-projects. YAML is based on web standards and supports every modern web browser. All Internet Explorer’s major rendering bugs are countered. YAML fully supports all IE versions from 5.x/Win to 7.0.
Apart from a number of standard-conform layouts the framework also offers a debugging stylesheet, print stylesheet as well as various robust tools for web-development in YAML. All CSS components of the framework as well as the various layout methods are thoroughly documented in both English and German, supplemented by numerous examples.
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Apart from a number of standard-conform layouts the framework also offers a debugging stylesheet, print stylesheet as well as various robust tools for web-development in YAML. All CSS components of the framework as well as the various layout methods are thoroughly documented in both English and German, supplemented by numerous examples.
You need time to fully understand the framework.
“For the average user, [..] the time required to understand the architecture of the framework far outweighs the menial task of coding it from scratch.” [Why I don’t use frameworks]
You need a close familiarity with your code’s architecture.
Using external CSS frameworks, you still need a profound understanding of your code. You need to know exactly how your framework is actually built. “By building a site from the ground up, you gain a knowledge of your site’s architecture that can’t be learned through any study or documentation.” [Why I don’t use frameworks]
You might inherit someone’s bugs or mistakes.
If you use external CSS Frameworks you might get in trouble fixing someone else’s bugs which is far more time-consuming than fixing your own bugs.
You develop sites upon a framework, not upon the solid knowledge of CSS.
“A big problem with frameworks is when up and coming developers attach themselves to a framework as opposed to the underlying code itself. The knowledge gained in this case surrounds a specific framework, which severely limits the developer.” [Please Do Not Use CSS Frameworks, by Jonathan Christopher]
You get a bloated source code.
“Whether it be in a server side language framework or JavaScript library, there is often a large percentage of code that will never be executed. While not a major issue server side, this can greatly degrade the performance of a client side framework such as a JavaScript library.” [Please Do Not Use CSS Frameworks, by Jonathan Christopher]
CSS can not be framed semantically.
“CSS and (X)HTML go hand in hand. (X)HTML is a language semantic in nature, which is impossible to wrap up in the style of a framework. Each and every project is unique in and of itself, right down to the document structure, classes, and ids. A CSS framework passively removes a great majority of semantic value from the markup of a document and, in my opinion, should be avoided.” [Please Do Not Use CSS Frameworks, by Jonathan Christopher]
Ignoring the uniqueness of your projects.
Designs should be based upon the content, not upon a standard template you use over and over again.
[More]
“For the average user, [..] the time required to understand the architecture of the framework far outweighs the menial task of coding it from scratch.” [Why I don’t use frameworks]
You need a close familiarity with your code’s architecture.
Using external CSS frameworks, you still need a profound understanding of your code. You need to know exactly how your framework is actually built. “By building a site from the ground up, you gain a knowledge of your site’s architecture that can’t be learned through any study or documentation.” [Why I don’t use frameworks]
You might inherit someone’s bugs or mistakes.
If you use external CSS Frameworks you might get in trouble fixing someone else’s bugs which is far more time-consuming than fixing your own bugs.
You develop sites upon a framework, not upon the solid knowledge of CSS.
“A big problem with frameworks is when up and coming developers attach themselves to a framework as opposed to the underlying code itself. The knowledge gained in this case surrounds a specific framework, which severely limits the developer.” [Please Do Not Use CSS Frameworks, by Jonathan Christopher]
You get a bloated source code.
“Whether it be in a server side language framework or JavaScript library, there is often a large percentage of code that will never be executed. While not a major issue server side, this can greatly degrade the performance of a client side framework such as a JavaScript library.” [Please Do Not Use CSS Frameworks, by Jonathan Christopher]
CSS can not be framed semantically.
“CSS and (X)HTML go hand in hand. (X)HTML is a language semantic in nature, which is impossible to wrap up in the style of a framework. Each and every project is unique in and of itself, right down to the document structure, classes, and ids. A CSS framework passively removes a great majority of semantic value from the markup of a document and, in my opinion, should be avoided.” [Please Do Not Use CSS Frameworks, by Jonathan Christopher]
Ignoring the uniqueness of your projects.
Designs should be based upon the content, not upon a standard template you use over and over again.
A framework is a basic (usually abstract) conceptual structure which you can use as a “scratch” for your web-projects. For instance, instead of defining global reset, consistent baseline, typographic rules or basic styles for forms over and over again — every time you work on a new project — you can prepare a default-style once and reuse it in all your future projects. This is what you call a CSS Framework.
CSS frameworks don’t have to be complex or large, they may contain a set of simple CSS-styles such as
typography.css for basic typographic rules,
grid.css for grid-based layouts or
layout.css for general layouts,
form.css for basic form styling,
general.css for further general rules
and so on. In your code segmentation you can also go further, for instance: structure, typography, design presentation, specialist sections (e.g. menus, navigation), print, mobile web, tweaks (mostly old style browser hacks), browser specific workarounds (via IE conditional statement). “On the whole code segmentation in frameworks is handy to work with, but it can add some real load to a server with the extra http request per page view.” [Treading Lightly With CSS Frameworks, by Gary Barber]
“[Framework is] a set of tools, libraries, conventions, and best practices that attempt to abstract routine tasks into generic modules that can be reused. The goal here is to allow the designer or developer to focus on tasks that are unique to a given project, rather than reinventing the wheel each time around.” [Framework For Designers, by Jeff Croft]
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CSS frameworks don’t have to be complex or large, they may contain a set of simple CSS-styles such as
typography.css for basic typographic rules,
grid.css for grid-based layouts or
layout.css for general layouts,
form.css for basic form styling,
general.css for further general rules
and so on. In your code segmentation you can also go further, for instance: structure, typography, design presentation, specialist sections (e.g. menus, navigation), print, mobile web, tweaks (mostly old style browser hacks), browser specific workarounds (via IE conditional statement). “On the whole code segmentation in frameworks is handy to work with, but it can add some real load to a server with the extra http request per page view.” [Treading Lightly With CSS Frameworks, by Gary Barber]
“[Framework is] a set of tools, libraries, conventions, and best practices that attempt to abstract routine tasks into generic modules that can be reused. The goal here is to allow the designer or developer to focus on tasks that are unique to a given project, rather than reinventing the wheel each time around.” [Framework For Designers, by Jeff Croft]
You increase your productivity and avoid common mistakes.
If you develop several sites of the similar nature, an abstraction of CSS code can dramatically speed up your productivity, help you to avoid common mistakes and simplify the management of CSS code.
You normalize your code/class base.
You have a common “default” CSS-code and (X)HTML-markup, so you always use the same IDs and class names in your projects. Code consistency throughout a number of projects makes it’s easier for you to maintain a web-site without digging into the source code of every project you’ve ever worked on — to understand how you’ve actually built the web-site.
You have a better workflow within a team.
If a CSS-framework is well documented, it can be used within a team as a common ground-up; thus you can avoid misunderstandings and ensure an optimal workflow. The latter results in avoiding mistakes and helps you to meet deadlines without compromising on product quality and without overtime costs.
You gain an optimal browser-compatibility.
Since your CSS-framework is “bulletproof”, you don’t have to worry about browser-compatibility issues and can start coding right away.
You have a clean, well-structured and complete code.
CSS Frameworks provide you with a well thought-out foundation for your sites; using them you have the basic styling of all html-elements you’ll ever need to style from the very beginning of your projects. Have you ever forgotten about code or abbr? That’s the point.
[More]
If you develop several sites of the similar nature, an abstraction of CSS code can dramatically speed up your productivity, help you to avoid common mistakes and simplify the management of CSS code.
You normalize your code/class base.
You have a common “default” CSS-code and (X)HTML-markup, so you always use the same IDs and class names in your projects. Code consistency throughout a number of projects makes it’s easier for you to maintain a web-site without digging into the source code of every project you’ve ever worked on — to understand how you’ve actually built the web-site.
You have a better workflow within a team.
If a CSS-framework is well documented, it can be used within a team as a common ground-up; thus you can avoid misunderstandings and ensure an optimal workflow. The latter results in avoiding mistakes and helps you to meet deadlines without compromising on product quality and without overtime costs.
You gain an optimal browser-compatibility.
Since your CSS-framework is “bulletproof”, you don’t have to worry about browser-compatibility issues and can start coding right away.
You have a clean, well-structured and complete code.
CSS Frameworks provide you with a well thought-out foundation for your sites; using them you have the basic styling of all html-elements you’ll ever need to style from the very beginning of your projects. Have you ever forgotten about code or abbr? That’s the point.
You don’t have to write the same CSS-code or (X)HTML-Markup over and over again. Whatever project you’re starting to work with, at some point you have to define classes and IDs you’ve already defined in your previous web-projects. To avoid unnecessary mistakes you might want to start not from a blank file, but from an almost “perfect” scratch. The latter might contain some basic definitions you’d write in your code anyway. However, once you’ve decided to create such a scratch, you need to make sure it is really bulletproof — besides, if the stylesheet also sets up optimal typographic rules and basic form styling you manage to kill two birds with one stone.
And this is where CSS Frameworks and CSS Reset are becoming important. Using them, you can get yourself a perfect default-stylesheet and markup, save your time and ensure the best quality of your code from the very beginning. But what are CSS Frameworks? And why do you need the Reset for?
Let’s take a look at the idea behind CSS Frameworks, their advantages and disadvantages, most popular CSS frameworks and dozens of default-stylesheets you can use designing a new web-site from scratch.
This article partially covers tools and techniques which use Grids. You might want to make sure you get the idea behind the grid-based design approach — from our article Designing With Grid-Based Approach.
You can find hundreds of CSS templates in our article Free CSS Layouts and Templates.
Please notice that this article takes a closer look at CSS Frameworks, not at extensive server-side programming frameworks such as CakePHP and also not at Web Development Environments such as Coda or Dreamweaver.
[More]
And this is where CSS Frameworks and CSS Reset are becoming important. Using them, you can get yourself a perfect default-stylesheet and markup, save your time and ensure the best quality of your code from the very beginning. But what are CSS Frameworks? And why do you need the Reset for?
Let’s take a look at the idea behind CSS Frameworks, their advantages and disadvantages, most popular CSS frameworks and dozens of default-stylesheets you can use designing a new web-site from scratch.
This article partially covers tools and techniques which use Grids. You might want to make sure you get the idea behind the grid-based design approach — from our article Designing With Grid-Based Approach.
You can find hundreds of CSS templates in our article Free CSS Layouts and Templates.
Please notice that this article takes a closer look at CSS Frameworks, not at extensive server-side programming frameworks such as CakePHP and also not at Web Development Environments such as Coda or Dreamweaver.