January 5, 2026
Cascading drama, not styles
CSS sucks because we don't bother learning it (2022)
Dev feud: CSS sucks—or are we the problem
TLDR: An essay claims CSS isn’t bad—we just skip learning it. Comments erupt: some blame constant change and messy browser rules, others say devs rely on hacks and frameworks instead of fundamentals. It matters because every app needs clean, reliable visuals, and rushed styling becomes tomorrow’s maintenance nightmare.
A spicy essay argues the web’s style language, CSS, doesn’t actually “suck” — we just never learned it. Cue the comment-section fireworks. nailer points at large language models (LLMs—AI trained on public code) spitting out “div-soup” pages as proof that folks copy hacks instead of learning the basics. busterarm drops the now-legendary “Cascading Shit Show” talk and says the real villain is the moving target: CSS keeps changing, so what are we even supposed to learn? Meanwhile, phoronixrly laments that CSS is complex, constantly shifting, and lacks solid conventions, arguing that unless you’re a full-time front‑end dev, you’re set up to fail—and then blamed for it. rascul keeps it chill: writing CSS is fine; keeping up with new features and browser quirks is the headache. Then throwawayffffas comes in hot: “I know CSS and believe me it sucks,” calling out “hacks on top of hacks,” from percentage padding tricks to aspect ratios, like DIY duct tape for the web. The original essay pleads: plan your styles like real engineering, not last‑minute cram sessions—think Peter Norvig’s classic essay on long-term learning. The memes? Endless “center a box” war stories, Bootstrap confetti, and “position: absolute” as the nuclear button. Internet, discuss.
Key Points
- •The article argues developers often dislike CSS because they do not invest time to learn it properly.
- •It contrasts rigorous backend learning with a common practice of writing CSS late, leading to hacks and fragile layouts.
- •Examples include difficulties centering elements in CSS 2 due to poor HTML and misusing flexbox in CSS 3 over bad structure.
- •Common problematic practices cited: overreliance on frameworks like Bootstrap, use of !important and position: absolute, and cluttered class usage.
- •The author acknowledges CSS’s imperfections but asserts that understanding behaviors (e.g., margin: 0 auto, content property) enables maintainable solutions.