[UPHPU] Semantic markup and CSS

[Richard K Miller]

Last August when Wade presented on CSS at our UPHPU meeting, I took  
notes and posted them to my blog[1]. For whatever reason now, someone  
found them and included them in a list of "70 expert ideas for CSS  
coding"[2]. (Thanks Wade!)

One of Wade's ideas, which really resonated with me as efficient and  
clever, was to create a "library" of CSS classes that you regularly  
use. For example:

.float_left
{
	float:left;
}

Then you can easily write <div class="float_left"></div> in your code.

Someone commented on my post today that this actually breaks semantic  
markup, which appears to be true. Float_left is a presentational  
directive, so should it really be used?

I'm sure Wade probably argued that the convenience of a CSS class  
library outweighs the disadvantages of not having perfectly semantic  
HTML. I probably just forgot to write it in my notes.

In any case, Wade's presentation and the article that linked to it  
today are both quite good for CSS.

[1] http://www.richardkmiller.com/blog/archives/2006/08/css-best- 
practices
[2] http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/05/10/70-expert-ideas-for- 
better-css-coding/