“The New CSS Layout” was released when I was about to embark on the challenge of refactoring an old site to be responsive and have grid support and support for old browsers. Yikes! I wasn’t looking forward to the faff that I assumed this kind of challenge involved, so I was more than pleased to have a book to guide me.
By the time I read the book in preparation for my adventure, I had already watched all of Rachel’s video tutorials, and I still found the book filled in gaps in my knowledge. Maybe it’s because I read books more carefully than watch videos or read blog posts but I recommend it to anyone who’s starting to work with grid (which, by now, should be all of us).
I like that the book starts with a brief trip down memory lane, helping to contextualise and explain how CSS layout was achieved previously to the advent of grid and flexbox.
I found the chapter which delves deeper into the subject of old browser support (“Chapter 7: Embrace the future”) particularly useful for my task at hand. I still can’t believe how painless it was to add basic support with only a few lines of CSS.
Just like other A Book Apart publications, “The New CSS Layout” does an excellent job at taking you from newbie to confident at its subject. The book won’t turn you automatically into a pro at CSS Grid Layout, which, as you may have guessed, only practice, trial and error, many times over will.
I only fairly recently started using grid in production and client work and am completely converted. And this wouldn’t have been possible without Rachel Andrew’s relentless publishing of resources on the subject.
These days, when creating CSS layouts, I keep 3 tabs open at all times:
- Rachel Andrew’s Grid By Example
- CSS Tricks: A Complete Guide to Grid
- CSS Tricks: A Complete Guide to Flexbox
And “The New CSS Layout” gave me the foundational knowledge that I needed to get started with grid more confidently. Thank you, Rachel. ????????