Learn Scss the thoughtbot way
In order to create a sustainable CSS codebase for a project – one that can grow without becoming impossible to work with – the use of Scss is crucial. Scss is a version of Sass, an extension language for CSS, and a real eye-opener for front end developers and designers, eliminating the boring and frustrating parts of CSS. Where CSS is repetitive and inflexible, Scss is concise, plastic and simply a joy to work with, turning a stale listing of style rules into something that resembles a real programming language. Without making it any more difficult.
During this full day workshop we'll go through how designers at thoughtbot use Scss. We'll guide you through the way we structure files for large projects and how we use imports in manifest files to create a good overview of entire projects. We'll introduce you to how variables are used in Scss, how to work with colors, extends, functions and mixins. All the features that allow for a top-down management of graphic and typographic styles.
At thoughtbot we've been working with Scss for a long enough time to even develop our own tools and frameworks. During the workshop we'll touch upon the following light weight open source projects:
- Bourbon is a mixin library that takes care of vendor prefixes and helps out with a lot of tedious tasks.
- Neat is a grid framework helping out with media queries, responsive design and alignments.
- Bitters is a simple scaffolding style base for creating basic styles for a project.
- Refills is pattern and component library that goes well with the frameworks above.
- Sassquatch is an app for reviewing how your Scss turns into CSS in real-time. Each attendee will get a free copy of Sassquatch!
One of the trickiest parts of maintaining a style codebase is keeping it flexible enough to allow for changes and allow for growth. During the workshop we'll discuss different philosophies for keeping the code lean and modular. We'll also have you bring your own projects so we can discuss strategies, improvements and share issues, tips and tricks.
