Re: The CSS Problem

On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 8:22 PM, Jens O. Meiert <jens@meiert.com> wrote:
> > all the different ways CSS 3 has envisioned to do layouts by now
>
> This is, after closer inspection as I wasn’t sure whether anything
> changed, a great example for my criticism:
>
> * CSS Flexible Box Layout Module, http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-flexbox/
> * CSS Grid Layout, http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-grid-layout/
> * CSS Multi-column Layout Module, http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-multicol/
> * CSS Positioned Layout Module Level 3, http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-positioning/
> * CSS Grid Template Layout Module, http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-layout/
> * Alternative Grid Layout proposal,
> http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/2012Sep/0047.html
>
> *All* are solving very similar problems.
>
> Yet *all* appear be on the CSS WG radar, if one can believe
> <http://disruptive-innovations.com/zoo/customers/CSSWG/Priorities.html>.
>
> Why and how, if that is the assumption, would we *not* consolidate?

The three Grid things are alternate proposals for the same thing, not
independently pursued things.  We are moving into the finalization
stage on Grid as I speak - we just had a small call between editors to
help resolve some of the remaining issues for merging the concepts in
the three.

Flexbox, Grid, Multicol, and Positioned Layout are *very* different
things.  If you believe you can consolidate their functionality
without either massively complicating the model and syntax, or
drastically slashing their functionality, feel free to suggest it.  I
do not think that any such thing is possible, which is why I support
and have spent a lot of time developing the current structure.

Experience within CSS and with many other layout systems shows that
you get good returns from making specialized, orthogonal layout
managers.  Trying to blend too much together in one just muddles
things, and you end up in one of the two bad situations I pointed to
in the previous paragraph.

~TJ

Received on Tuesday, 20 November 2012 04:49:54 UTC