From the course: CSS Essential Training

CSS specifications and the W3C - CSS Tutorial

From the course: CSS Essential Training

CSS specifications and the W3C

- When writing any coding language, there are specific rules to follow. For CSS, the W3C is the organization that creates the technical specifications. When I started learning CSS, I was determined to read the whole thing. However, I found that reading the W3C guidelines was a little intimidating. There was a lot of unfamiliar jargon, and it was quite extensive. So needless to say, I didn't finish it. But just like any other reference manual, you don't need to read it word for word. You just need to know how to find what you're looking for, and how to read the documentation. Since the W3C is responsible for establishing these rules, you'll probably end up looking at it at some point. So let's go over the publishing process to better understand where CSS specifications come from, and how to keep up to date with the changes. All of the past, current, and working drafts are published on the W3C website. The first two versions, CSS level 1 and CSS level 2, were published as one whole document. After level 2, the specification was split into modules, so each module could be updated independently, which allowed for faster updates. For example, we can see the full CSS level 2 specs right here. And for just selectors, we can see it's currently at level 3. The term CSS3 refers to any updates after CSS level 2, but since the specs are now split into modules, levels no longer refer to versions of CSS as a whole. The levels are just versions for that particular module, so there's no need to make a distinction. It's all just CSS. When you select a module, you'll get all the information about that particular CSS concept, like what it's used for and how to use it. There are also colors and status codes used to show what phase the particular module is at. Here's an explanation for the status codes. Features in the draft stages are experimental, and may not be supported by all browsers. They can also be changed or removed. Candidate or proposed recommendations become formalized after feedback and approval. Standards at this phase are usually okay to start implementing. The current standard for the latest browsers is recommendation, while superseded recommendation is a spec that has been replaced by a newer version. You don't need to read the entire specification to write CSS, but it's good to have some understanding of the process. In this course, I'll cover the essentials of CSS, but learning everything there is to know about CSS is more than what we can do in a few hours. So continuous learning is an important part of the process. It's also good to have some go-to resources, like the Mozilla Developer Network's CSS Guide, which is a friendlier read, and it links back to the W3C guides if you need more information. Now that we know where the CSS specs come from, let's get into the core concepts.

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