Cascading Style Sheets

By Neal Thomas, updated by Duane Taylor
January 2001

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) represent the first step toward separating informational content from the formatting and layout of HTML documents. CSS is a language used to define the appearance of a single page or a group of pages.

CSS allows for much greater control of HTML documents than has been possible. It allows designers to make sophisticated layouts, manage font sizes, use colours and position graphic elements. Prior to CSS, web designers were forced to use methods that increased the overall amount of information being streamed to the browser, thereby increasing download times.

Best of all, with CSS layout information can be stored in a file separate from your content. Specifications can therefore be made in a single file describing layout and referenced by any number of content files. So if the programmer would like all of the paragraph subheads to be set in a sans-serif font and coloured green, only one reference needs to be made in the CSS document. If the green needs to turn to red as part of a redesign, only one change is necessary.

CSS is slowly being adopted by the main web browsers. Until it has been fully implemented, more sophisticated layouts will require more complex programming. The sooner that programmers recognize potential of CSS, the less time will be spent on redesigns when CSS is the standard.

Because CSS offers so many different variables, it is considerably more complex than basic HTML. Programmers are advised to investigate professional Web editors that offer CSS layout controls. This will save programmers from having to master syntax and all the available tags. Two examples of Web editors with CSS control are Adobe GoLive and Allaire HomeSite.