What Is CSS?

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a web language that allows web designers to efficiently control the visual presentation of sites without excessive code. It increases efficiency by removing excessive steps. Prior to CSS's establishment, too much development time was invested in tedious, mind-numbing processes. For example, before CSS, if you wished to change a link color depending on its location on the page, you had to scan the entire HTML code to find each link, then alter each instance of the link’s code. If your page contained a large number of links, this process inevitably became a game of “How quickly can I do this without going insane?” Enter CSS tutorials.

CSS works directly with HTML (CSS documents are separate from the HTML document, but are “linked” the HTML) to control the visual aspects of the HTML elements. Put simply, HTML dictates which elements exist on a page, while CSS controls how the elements look. CSS=style, HTML=content.

Why Do I Want CSS Tutorials?

CSS tutorials are lessons that usually include step-by-step instructions for learning CSS. While CSS is based on simplicity, learning it is not always a simplistic endeavor. Granted, the basics only take a little while to grasp, but the more intricate and complicated techniques take a while to master. A good teaching reference becomes invaluable to aspiring designers who wish to possess a thorough understanding of CSS. That desire for knowledge is why we have compiled some fairly notable and popular texts (and video tutorials) created with the intention of teaching consumers CSS.

These are the things TopTenREVIEWS looked for in an instructional CSS tutorial:

Ease of Use
Basically, this category relates to the effectiveness of the creators’ teaching methods. Some authors have inclinations to get bombastically wordy, overly caught-up in technical jargon, too sophisticated too early, and even forget they’re usually speaking to beginners or intermediately-experienced users. The best products remain simple but thorough, and the developers/authors’ instructional paces are just right for their target audiences.

Features
More recent publications broach subjects that are more relevant to today’s internet, and typically contain CSS features that are commonly unexplored or ignored. Understanding the deviations between web browsers (cross-browser support) is absolutely necessary for every web designer, but some CSS products ignore this hugely significant aspect of design. The most useful products usually include sections for cross-browser development.

Support
Because CSS is a programming language (regardless of its simplistic nature), technical problems are bound to arise. Some CD-ROMs don’t function correctly on certain operating systems; some code doesn’t work on certain browsers, etc. Good support means providing helpful resources (e.g. allowing contact with the authors/developers, links to code examples and project files).

Whether you’re just beginning your design career or simply wish to incorporate CSS in your personal work, we provide you with articles related to CSS tutorials as well as valuable reviews of some of the most popular CSS tutorial products on the market. At TopTenREVIEWS We Do the Research So You Don't Have To.™