The Addiction Is Real: Why Tailwind CSS Is Devs’ New Best Friend
Developers are the first to get on any hype train that offers even minor changes, and ‘Tailwind’ is the most recent examThe Addiction Is Real: Why Tailwind CSS Is Devs’ New Best Friendple of this use.
Many people in the front-end programming community believe that this CSS framework is the best thing since sliced bread.
Of course, those who oppose it reject it as yet another fancy new framework.
The truth, like everything else, lies somewhere in the middle.
However, one thing is certain: once developers start using Tailwind, there is no turning back.
What separates it?
Tailwind has been under development since November 2017, but it truly took off at the start of 2022.
Adam Wathan, the framework’s designer, has previously expressed his hatred for semantic CSS.
This inspired him to create Tailwind, which gives up semantic CSS instead of a functionality-focused CSS strategy.
Semantic CSS refers to the process of identifying various HTML components with meaningful names.
For example, instead of labeling a checkout button “bottom red box,” it could be labeled “checkout.”
However, when using this method, developers are typically asked to semantically name the content in HTML while using these class names as CSS hooks.
This strategy is commonly used to allow developers to switch out stylesheets to update the visual design of a website while maintaining compatibility.
Wathan’s strategy, stated in his blog, was to optimize for reusable CSS combined with HTML, which departs from the separation of concerns that semantic CSS follows.
When it comes to Tailwind, this is one of the big discussion topics.
Tailwind primarily uses CSS by producing short and basic classes that can be applied straight to HTML elements, hence reducing the amount of CSS code that must be produced.
However, while these features make life easier for some developers, they are a no-go for others.
Tailwind’s small class-focused strategy usually ends in a difficult-to-read HTML page and many lines of code.
Tailwind’s’restrictive’ nature is often mentioned as a typical disadvantage because it only allows for the usage of a small number of CSS styles.
With so many worries, developers are wondering if Tailwind is overhyped.
Above and above the hype
Aside from the legion of tech bros claiming millisecond load times when using Tailwind, there are many more reasons to use it.
Even if the learning curve is difficult for experts in semantic coding methods, the advantages are major.
Even Tailwind’s creator couldn’t stomach changing his coding approach until he did, noting,
“The truth is, you’ll never believe me until you give it a shot.” If you can hold back the need to throw up long enough to give it a try, I believe you’ll wonder how you ever worked with CSS any other way.”
Indeed, the Tailwind website is overflowing with positive feedback from coders who gained advantages from working with the framework.
Many developers share that semantic CSS was a mistake, and another common theme is that developers can’t go back to ‘normal’ CSS after working with Tailwind.
The framework additionally offers a slew of nice-to-have features, such as strong defaults that can be adjusted to the user’s liking, support for responsive webpages, and automated cleaning of unneeded CSS classes.
These features are similar to automatic ‘best practices,’ and they will undoubtedly make team projects go more smoothly.
After relying on these features, it becomes difficult for developers to perform them manually after leaving Tailwind.
Tailwind’s limited nature is also a blessing for beginner developers, who just need to refer to a single source of knowledge rather than combing the web for CSS style guidance.
Tailwind also prefers consistency to change.
While this might seem immoral to developers who prefer CSS’s infinite configurability, it works wonders for both newer developers and larger teams who don’t want to deal with the problems related to semantic CSS.
“The goal of useful CSS is to be able to tell what the class is doing without having to open the CSS file.” CSS is a clear language for programming.
Yes, it can be used to define styles necessarily, but this is frequently where the biggest headaches in CSS maintenance come up.”
CSS is a simple language for coding.
Yes, it can be used to define styles necessarily, but this is frequently where the biggest headaches in CSS maintenance come up.”
Tailwind’s war against semantic CSS, or even the Block Element Modifier or BEM strategy, is sure to be long and tough.
Semantics is one of the most difficult challenges to conquer in programming, but Tailwind might have found the solution by simply scrolling past the problem.
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