7 advanced CSS features every front-end developer should know

If you want to do front end development you'll eventually need to get your hands dirty and learn you some CSS. Here are some advanced concepts, you'd absolutely need to learn

The CSS language is constantly evolving and improving, with new features and techniques being added all the time. As a front-end developer, it is important to stay up-to-date with the latest developments in CSS to ensure that you are using the best techniques and tools available. Even though there are new features constantly being added to CSS, following are 7 CSS features, you should know to better design your web projects:

  1. Mask and clip path (Things don't have to look block-y)
  2. Centring a DIV in CSS (not exactly a feature, but you should know features that enable you to achieve this.)
  3. Units (Go beyond pixels and percentages)
  4. Functions (Yes, You can do some processing in CSS)
  5. Specificity (The rules to conquer styling)
  6. Grid (The Grid. A CSS frontier. I kept dreaming of a feature I thought I'd never see. And then, one day... I got in. -- Fevin Klynn)
  7. Houdini (Yes, like the magician, it is MAGIC)

1. CSS mask and clip path

CSS masking is a technique that allows you to show or hide parts of an element by applying a mask over the element. The mask can be a simple shape, such as a rectangle or a circle, or it can be a more complex path.

A CSS mask is created using the mask property and a mask image. The mask image defines which parts of the element will be visible and which will be hidden. The mask image can be a solid color, a gradient, or a combination of both.

A CSS clip path is similar to a mask, but instead of masking the entire element, it clips the element to a specific shape or path. The clip path is defined using the clip-path property and a shape or path function.

Both masking and clipping can be used to create interesting visual effects and can be useful for optimizing the performance of your website by only showing the parts of an element that are visible to the user.

Clip-Path Example

CSS Mask Example

2. Centering:

Centering used to be pain for frontend developers back in the day. So much that it was one of the most frequently asked interview question- “How would you center a DIV?”

I am not going to show an example here as there are multiple ways to center a DIV based in a particular use case. CSS-Tricks has the best guide on it: Centering CSS: Complete Guide

3. Units:

There are several reasons why it is important for a frontend developer to know about CSS units:

  1. To create consistent, predictable layouts: Using the same unit of measurement throughout your stylesheet can help ensure that your layout looks the same across different devices and browsers.
  2. To create responsive designs: Using relative units, such as percentages or viewport units, allows you to create designs that scale and adapt to different screen sizes.
  3. To optimize performance: Using the correct units can help reduce the amount of work the browser has to do to render your styles, which can improve the performance of your website.
  4. To understand how different units work: Different units have different behaviors and can be better suited for different tasks. Understanding the characteristics of each unit can help you make informed decisions about which unit to use in a given situation.
  5. To improve maintainability: Using consistent, predictable units makes it easier for you or other developers to make changes to your styles in the future.

This MDN page is a great resource to learn more about it: MDN > Building Blocks > Values and Units

4. Functions:

In CSS, a function is a piece of code that performs a specific task and returns a value. Functions are used in various properties and values to manipulate data, such as colors, lengths, and strings.

Here are a few examples of CSS functions:

  • calc(): Allows you to perform mathematical operations on lengths and other numeric values.
  • rgba(): Allows you to specify a color with an alpha channel, which controls the transparency of the color.
  • hsla(): Similar to rgba(), but allows you to specify a color using the hue, saturation, lightness, and alpha channels.
  • attr(): Allows you to use the value of an element's attribute as a value for a property.
  • url(): Allows you to specify a URL as a value for a property that requires an image or other resource.

CSS functions are an important part of the CSS language and can be very useful for a variety of tasks.

Simple example of using above functions

5. CSS specificity:

CSS specificity is a ranking system that determines which styles will be applied to an element when there are multiple styles that apply to the same element.

Specificity is used to resolve conflicts between styles, so that the browser knows which styles to apply when there are multiple conflicting styles for the same element.

There are several factors that contribute to the specificity of a style:

  1. Inline styles: An inline style applied directly to an element has the highest specificity.
  2. IDs: A style applied to an element with an ID has a higher specificity than a style applied to an element with a class or element name.
  3. Classes, attributes, and pseudo-classes: Styles applied to an element with a class, attribute, or pseudo-class have a higher specificity than styles applied to an element with a tag name.
  4. Tag names: Styles applied to an element with a tag name have a lower specificity than styles applied with an ID, class, attribute, or pseudo-class.

The specificity of a style is calculated by assigning a numerical value to each of these factors. The style with the highest specificity will be applied to the element.

Understanding CSS specificity is important for frontend developers because it allows you to control which styles are applied to elements, and to troubleshoot issues when unexpected styles are being applied.

Specificity Calculator is a great tool to understand CSS Specificity: https://specificity.keegan.st/

6. CSS Grid:

CSS Grid is a layout system for creating two-dimensional grids of rows and columns. It allows you to easily specify the layout of elements on your web page, including the size, position, and alignment of those elements.

CSS Grid is a powerful tool for creating flexible, responsive layouts, and is particularly well-suited for creating grid-based layouts such as those used in image galleries, grid-based design layouts, and web applications.

To use CSS Grid, you define a grid container element, and then place elements into the grid by specifying the row and column they should be placed in. You can also specify the size and position of the elements within the grid, and use grid properties such as grid-template-rows and grid-template-columns to control the size and layout of the grid.

CSS Grid is a relatively new feature of CSS, and is supported in modern browsers. It is a powerful tool for creating flexible, responsive layouts, and is becoming increasingly popular among frontend developers.

CSS Grid Garden is an interactive game where you can learn CSS Grid: https://cssgridgarden.com/

7. CSS Houdini:

First introduced in 2016, CSS Houdini is a collection of APIs that allows developers to extend and modify the way CSS works. It consists of a number of low-level APIs that give developers more control over the browser's rendering engine, enabling them to create custom CSS features and optimize the performance of their stylesheets.

CSS Houdini consists of several APIs, including:

  • The Paint API: Allows developers to create custom paint worklets, which can be used to generate images or apply styles to elements in a more performant way.
  • The Layout API: Allows developers to create custom layout worklets, which can be used to create custom layout methods for elements.
  • The Animation API: Allows developers to create custom animation worklets, which can be used to create smooth, performant animations.
  • The Parser API allows you to create your own CSS syntax, extending the capabilities of CSS.

CSS Houdini is still in development, and the APIs are currently only supported in some modern browsers. However, it has the potential to revolutionize the way developers work with CSS, and to enable the creation of new and powerful CSS features.

Houdini.how has some cool demos built using Houdini you can check out (Use latest Chrome or Edge browser only).