10 Tips to Write CSS Faster and More Efficiently for New Web Developer

If you're new to web development, you might often find yourself staring at a blank screen, wondering where to start and how to write CSS faster. This is a common challenge for new web developers and those still learning the craft. Understanding the right approach can make CSS writing more efficient and less overwhelming. 🚀

Writing structured CSS code is essential as it saves time, improves readability, and makes it easier for other developers to understand. Maintaining a clear code flow and structure is especially important when working in a team. To help you write CSS faster and more efficiently, I've compiled 10 essential CSS tips that every new web developer should know.

1. Importing the required fonts

Making content visually appealing and eye-catching is crucial for a great user experience. Beyond just placing content in blocks or images, styling text effectively plays a key role in enhancing a website's appearance. Choosing the right fonts and typography can make your website look more attractive and improve readability, ensuring a better experience for visitors.

There are several font providers available online that offer a wide range of fonts for web development. Below are some of the best font providers to help you enhance your website's typography:

The following example demonstrates how to import the Poppins font into a CSS file from Google Fonts.

//google font import
@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Poppins:wght@300;400;500;600;700&display=swap');

//assigning the font to elements
body {
    font-family: 'Poppins', sans-serif;
}

In the example above, Poppins is the primary font family imported from Google Fonts. If, for any reason, Poppins fails to load, the system will automatically fallback to the default sans-serif font.

2. Applying universal styles to write CSS faster

One of the most commonly applied universal styles in CSS is setting both padding and margin to 0, along with defining box-sizing as border-box. This ensures a consistent layout across all elements and prevents unwanted spacing issues.

Below is an example of applying these universal styles:

* {
    padding: 0;
    margin: 0;
    box-sizing: border-box;
}

This approach helps new web developers maintain a clean and structured CSS setup, making their workflow more efficient.

3. html selector properties

To ensure a consistent web page design, certain common properties should be applied to the HTML selector. These properties help maintain uniformity and improve the overall styling structure.

Below are some essential properties commonly written in the HTML selector for efficient CSS writing:

html {
  font-size: 62.5%; /* Sets 1rem = 10px */
  scroll-behavior: smooth; /* Enables smooth scrolling */
  text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; /* Enhances font clarity */
  line-height: 1.6; /* Improves text readability */
  overflow-x: hidden; /* Prevents horizontal scrolling */
  height: 100%;
  width: 100%;
}

The explanation of each property is provided below.

font-size: 62.5% - Setting the font size to 62.5% in the html selector is a common technique to make 1rem = 10px (since the default browser font size is 16px, and 62.5% of 16px is 10px).
scroll-behavior: smooth - It enables the smooth scrolling behavior for internal links. Mainly it provides a better UX when clicking on anchor links(#section links).
text-rendering: optimizeLegibility - This property optimizes font rendering for better readability. It also improves text appearance, especially for web fonts.
line-height: 1.6 - This sets a global default line height, it also helps improve text readability across the website.
overflow-x: hidden - Its very helpful and prevent horizontal scroll issues which can be caused bacause of the large elements on website.
height:100; width:100 - Providing height and width to 100% ensures the entire page uses a full viewport height and it helps in flexbox/grid layout where height:100% is needed.

4. body selector properties

The body selector is used to define global styles that affect the entire webpage. Here are some common properties that are often included in the body selector for better layout, readability, and user experience:

Below are some essential properties commonly written in the body selector for efficient CSS writing:

body {
  font-family: 'Poppins', sans-serif;
  font-size: 1.6rem;
  font-weight: 400;
  color: #333;
  background-color: #f8f9fa;
  width: 100%;
  min-height: 100vh;
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
}

This setup ensures consistent typography, layout, and user experience across the website. 🚀

5. Typography for best readability and consistency.

One essential CSS tip for new web developers is to define fonts, text sizes, and heading styles. This helps maintain a consistent web page structure and improves readability.

Below is an example of setting font weight, font size, margin-bottom, and line height for headings and paragraphs:

h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 {
    font-weight: 600;
    margin-bottom: 1rem;
}

h1 { font-size: 3.2rem; }
h2 { font-size: 2.8rem; }
h3 { font-size: 2.4rem; }
p { font-size: 1.6rem; line-height: 1.6; }

In this example, we've defined consistent typography styles to create a structured and visually appealing layout, ensuring a smooth reading experience.

6. Consistent styling for buttons and forms.

A web page often contains multiple buttons and forms, and ensuring they have a consistent look and feel is essential for a unified design. Applying default styles to buttons and forms not only enhances visual consistency but also helps new web developers write CSS faster and more efficiently.

Below is an example:

button {
  background-color: #007bff;
  color: white;
  font-size: 1.6rem;
  padding: 1rem 2rem;
  border: none;
  border-radius: 5px;
  cursor: pointer;
}

button:hover {
  background-color: #0056b3;
}

input, textarea {
  width: 100%;
  padding: 1rem;
  border: 1px solid #ccc;
  border-radius: 5px;
  font-size: 1.6rem;
}

7. Important Utility classes for efficient CSS Writing

Create custom utility classes based on your requirements. Simply add these class names to the HTML elements, and the associated styles will be applied. Below are some commonly used utility classes:

.mt-1 { margin-top: 1rem; }
.mb-1 { margin-bottom: 1rem; }
.text-center { text-align: center; }
.hide { display: none; }

8. Reset the properties of Anchor (<a>) and list(<ul>) tag

Resetting some common properties of the anchor (<a>) and list (<ul>) tags is essential, as they are frequently used throughout a website. Styling them individually each time can be tedious and confusing. To simplify the process, it's best to reset their properties at the beginning, as shown below:

a {
    text-decoration: none;
    color: inherit;
    font: inherit;
    display: block;
}

ul {
    list-style: none;
}

9. Create common Animations and Transitions

Web pages with smooth motion effects often appear more modern and engaging. One essential CSS tip is to create common animations and transitions, making it easier to apply effects consistently while also helping new web developers write CSS faster.

Below is an example:

.fade-in {
  opacity: 0;
  animation: fadeIn 1s ease-in forwards;
}

@keyframes fadeIn {
  from { opacity: 0; }
  to { opacity: 1; }
}

a {
  transition: color 0.3s ease-in-out;
}

a:hover {
  color: #007bff;
}

10. Mobile-First approach to write CSS faster

The mobile-first approach in CSS is a responsive web design strategy where styles are initially written for mobile devices and then gradually adapted for larger screens using media queries. This method ensures a better user experience on smaller screens and improves performance by loading only necessary styles first.

How It Works?

Start with mobile-friendly styles (default styles for small screens).
Use media queries to progressively enhance the design for larger screens.

Example of mobile-first CSS approach is below:

/* Default styles for mobile devices */
body {
    font-size: 16px;
    padding: 10px;
}

/* Styles for tablets (min-width: 768px) */
@media (min-width: 768px) {
    body {
        font-size: 18px;
        padding: 20px;
    }
}

/* Styles for desktops (min-width: 1024px) */
@media (min-width: 1024px) {
    body {
        font-size: 20px;
        padding: 30px;
    }
}

Benefits of Mobile-First Approach

✅ Improves performance – Loads essential styles first.
✅ Better user experience – Ensures mobile-friendliness.
✅ Easier scalability – Adapts smoothly to different screen sizes.

By following the mobile-first approach, new web developers can create efficient, responsive, and user-friendly designs. 🚀

I hope these 10 CSS tips help you feel more confident in writing CSS faster and more efficiently as a new web developer.

Follow me on Twitter and on blogspage for more tips and updates like this:
@ravindra5k 🚀
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