What is CSS?
CSS is short for Cascading Style Sheets. It is a new web page layout method that has been added to HTML to give web developers more control over their design and content layout. Using CSS allows a designer to create a standard set of commands (either embedded inside the web page or from an external page) that controls the style of all subsequent pages.
The most important thing for web designers to understand about CSS is that CSS separates the layout and the styles of a web page. This is often difficult for comprehend for web designers that are used to compiling their creative and HTML coding in a single web page document.
Styles such as fonts, font sizes, margins, can be specified in one place, then the Web pages feed off this one master list, with the styles cascading throughout the page or an entire site.
With CSS you can add style (fonts, colors, spacing, size. links) to web documents. More advanced techniques control the layout of the page without the use of tables or other cumbersome HTML.
What are the benefits of using CSS?
CSS is beneficial to the designer because of the afore mentioned control they have over their web site design and how it will be appear across platforms and browsers.
The main benefit to designers and to companies is that CSS speeds the time it takes to develop and update site layouts. Communication is easier among multiple developers because the workflow is standardized.
Until recently web page layout was not an exact science. It has been managed by inventive designers who mastered table-based HTML layouts enough to create compelling sites. With CSS all of that has changed as standards are finally being set for the present and future of web design.
Web sites designed in CSS are faster to change and update. Because the coding is reduced the pages are more efficient and require less bandwidth. Costs saving functions like these are causing businesses to demand CSS from their designers which are forcing less hold-out designers to convert because their clients demand it.
All in all, CSS is a development method that every designer will be using in the near future, and one that is very beneficial to everyone involved, from the designer through to the end user.
