Friday 12 September 2008

None of the rest of us can fathom CSS either.

Dave Minter has written a blog entry Float like a wasp that goes on about the inadequacies and problems faced with implementing CSS and the frustrations of HTML. I think that he's got a point when he says:

You are not alone. None of the rest of us can fathom CSS either.

He has a hit-list of things he'd like to see made more simple... and they include the usual bug-bears that we have all experienced at some stage (some more than others, obviously).

There are solutions to all the things he would like to see... but the key thing is that these solutions are invariably not intuitive and require arcane knowledge (and the patience of a saint) to ensure conformity.

I particularly liked this quote:

One of my tips for fixing all that irks with CSS would be to buy two or three of those books describing machiavellian ways to conspire against the deficiencies of CSS (anything with "hacks" or "tips" in the title) and then beat up the standard until the easiest approach to implementing everything in the book could be covered in a pamphlet.

I, too, would like to see a more structure simplification (rather that the current direction of CSS which seems to be adding to the mess).

4 comments:

Stephen Cresswell said...

Thanks for the link jeff, however you missed the best quote...

"Can someone make an HTML form file upload capability that doesn't look like it escaped from a Borland Turbo Jaquard Loom application circa 1645 ?"

Jeffy said...

The classic Jaquard Loom app defense :)

Gus Power said...

The only known defense is the Clearfix of Antioch :)

Unknown said...

As an aside, Dave is the guy that I worked with him at AQKA and wrote the Spring book I first tech reviewed.