Book Image

LESS WEB DEVELOPMENT ESSENTIALS

By : Bass Jobsen
Book Image

LESS WEB DEVELOPMENT ESSENTIALS

By: Bass Jobsen

Overview of this book

Less is a CSS preprocessor that essentially improves the functionality of simple CSS with the addition of several features. The book begins by teaching you how Less facilitates the process of web development. You will quickly then move on to actually creating your first layout using Less and compiling your very first Less code. Next, you will learn about variables and mixins and how they will help in building robust CSS code. In addition, you'll learn how to keep your code clean and test it by using style guides. We will then move on to the concept of Bootstrapping and the strength of using Less with Twitter Bootstrap. Going one step further, you will be able to customize Twitter's Bootstrap 3 using Less. Finally, you will learn how to integrate Less into your WordPress themes and explore other web apps that use Less. By leveraging this powerful CSS preprocessor, you will be able to consistently produce amazing web applications while making CSS code development an enjoyable experience.
Table of Contents (15 chapters)
Less Web Development Essentials
Credits
Foreword
About the Author
Acknowledgments
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Chapter 1. Improving Web Development with Less

It is impossible to imagine modern web design without CSS. With CSS3, web designers are able to rely on advanced functions such as gradients, transitions, and animations. On the other hand, CSS code becomes more complex and difficult to maintain. Less is a CSS preprocessor that extends CSS with modern programming-language concepts. Less enables you to use variables, functions, operations, and even rule or selector nesting while coding your CSS. Less helps you write CSS with the Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY) principle. The DRY principle prevents you from repeating any kind of information in your code.

This chapter will cover the following topics:

  • Introduction to CSS3

  • Compiling Less into CSS

  • Vendor-specific rules

  • CSS3 rounded corners, animations, and gradients

  • Using box-sizing border-box

  • Server-side compiling and using GUI