Why is it that Tailwind causes such emotional reactions in people? Functional CSS has been around a long time now.
When functional css ideas were introduced it presented a novel solution for scoping issues, naming issues and bloat issues. I remember discovering basscss and tachyons around 2015. The paradigm immediately felt like a huge improvement in my workflow. The iteration was so much faster than what I was used to with Bootstrap, BEM, or SCSS- I felt like I could design in code for the first time. My favorite workflow for web design became loading basscss in a CodePen, with almost no idea of the outcome I wanted and iterating towards something. What’s kind of amazing is that it allowed for these sorts of quick sketches and improved maintainability in large projects.
It also led me to my first inkling of a design system- through the use of composable and constrained styling primitives. A lot of the ideas introduced with those libraries now saturate the frontend ecosystem. And keep in mind, functional CSS, or at least the principles behind it have evolved a lot since 2015, particularly when it comes to components and CSS-in-JS. The original creator of basscss has gone on to create a number of equally impressive projects that advance the main ideas: styled-system, rebass, basically everything from @jxnblk.
I haven’t used Tailwind or any other functional CSS philosophy over the past few years since I find primitive and composable styling components, CSS-in-JS, themes, and CSS variables offer even better workflows for building the applications I work on. When Tailwind initially made a splash I was already pretty into what I consider this next phase of styling libraries- so I was a bit confused why people were so excited about it when basscss and tachyons had been around for years. Looking through the docs it seemed like they had taken basscss and tachyons and layered a bit of Bootstrap on top (in the form of nicer visual defaults and some component patterns).
Outside of the core functional principles, I don’t like the idea of Tailwind as much as I do basscss/tachyons. I think Tailwind tries to put too much of your styling in atomic classes. Part of what makes basscss great is the small API and the constraints it introduces on reusable patterns. I don’t want all of CSS to be represented as atomic classes- just the stuff I reuse 90% of the time. It also seems like a bit too much tooling when one of the main advantages I saw in the older libraries were that they were just plain CSS- you could use them on pretty much any project, regardless of build tools or architecture. I used to start with basscss on a project and then add my own layers of patterns on top- extending the system as needed.
That said it still offers a lot of the good stuff, combined with great documentation and more thought put into component patterns. It’s a great starting point, especially if you don’t want to or can’t take on runtime costs for CSS-in-JS (this is also evolving but still a concern). Its success isn’t a fluke or a result of misdirection as the author of this critique alleges. Reading through Adam Wathan’s original post on functional css (https://adamwathan.me/css-utility-classes-and-separation-of-... he describes the exact same trajectory in CSS thinking I went through as a frontend developer through the 2010s. It’s a great read and I think speaks to the level of consideration put into the library. If I were to try a new project today using functional CSS I’d definitely give Tailwind a shot.
Having spent the past couple years working on a large design system, I am most excited about @react-aria and @react-stately. There is huge potential for allowing resource constrained teams to build out a truly customized DS in a fraction of the time. Even for a well resourced team, these hooks can make extending their existing DS and borrowing complex behavior much simpler/faster. The biggest challenge for a DS at scale is in how you can adapt it to the infinite edge cases that a product eventually uncovers- while staying consistent and leveraging existing code. I think these libraries offer the best model yet for achieving this. Congrats to @devongovett and the team at Adobe for realizing these ambitious projects and successfully open-sourcing them.
Thank you. This is the reason I can’t start to write. I love brevity and clarity.
Prolonged blog posts where the crucial information can be made up in 2-3 lines is now the norm and I can’t for the life of me adapt to this style of writing.
I would love to have a tldr; or executive summary (I know it has a different meaning, but you get the point) up on top and then the rest of the article, for those who are now intrigued to read more, available to read.
I want to call out https://www.regular-expressions.info/ since it was, for a long time, one of the better/best resources on regexes that I was able to find. I learned a lot from this ... guy, essentially.
but, I always try to add a warning when recommending - should use them only for the flavors supported (PCRE, Python, etc) I've seen many using it for cli tools and wonder why things like non-greedy or lookarounds don't work.
When I was 18 I traveled to Koya-san to begin and end my Shikoku Pilgrimage. I collected the calligraphy and stamps unique to all 108 temples (including the 20 bangai) along the 1000 mile trail. When I returned to Koya-san I went to the calligraphy window at the temple to have the final page of my nokyocho stamped and signed. The monk at the window took my book, flipping through the ink heavy pages that had taken me months of lonely backpacking to fill. Finally he arrived at the last blank page. He filled it in without question. Black ink strokes and three deliberate red stamps over the black completed my journey. He closed the book and handed it back to me through the window. We looked at one another for a moment in silence. I was sure this monk could sense the power this moment held for me. After a pause he raised his hand and pointed. I followed his finger to a sign on the right of the window. It took me a second to realize I owed him ¥1,000.
My walking mentor — John McBride — walked Shikoku when he was 18 (nearly 30 years ago) as well. He stole some money from a temple (he was doing it with no cash). Felt so guilty he went back a few days later and confessed. The priest made him clean the temple for a week and taught him how to beg for food in the traditional pilgrim way: standing out in front of houses and announcing your presence.
He completed the entire pilgrimage that way. This last December we did 10 days of Shikoku and went back to the same temple — the priest was still alive! In his 90s. He didn't remember John, but John had a photo of the two from 30 years prior. Incredible to see him be able to trace back and close that loop.
Amazing little moments abound on walks like these.
Out of interest, what prompted you to make such a trip? When I was 18 (granted this was only a couple of years ago) all I managed to do was stay with a host family for a few weeks in Japan :)
To be honest, after a pretty lackadaisical first year of college I wanted to do something a bit more extreme. So naturally I dropped out and started looking at Pilgrimage trails. I didn’t really understand much of the historical and spiritual significance of the Shikoku trail until I actually started it and spoke with other pilgrims. The experience, at least at the beginning, was more about taking a completely divergent turn and diving into a culture that had fascinated me for years. That said, if you want to go back, its a surprisingly affordable endeavor if you can clear 4-6 weeks.
Awesome story! I'm actually going to Koya-san this weekend to shoot footage for a video I'm making on Kansai. Any suggestions on where to go on the mountain and surrounding area?
I only spent a night up there on both visits, so I made straight for Okunoin. Just kind of sauntering through the cemetery seemed to guide me to the main sites. Okunoin Temple, Kongobu-ji Temple, The Tokugawa Mausoleum, Danjogaran Saito… Also if you feel like splurging, staying at one of the temples that offer rooms is really wonderful. All of Japan has beautiful baths and you can find the bhuddist vegetarian cuisine at many temples, but after walking through a cold misty day on Koya-san it’s a different experience…
Hello Mr. Kay, Are you still going to be active with VRI or CDG now that HARC! has formed?
PS:
I once ran into you in Westwood and you invited me to check out the CDG lab. Unfortunately I missed you when I came by. I'm always tempted to try again, but I'd hate to interrupt the serious thinking of the fellows stationed up there.
