Stylus Basics: Streamlining CSS Development

Stylus is a powerful CSS preprocessor that simplifies and enhances the process of writing stylesheets. It offers a clean, expressive syntax and robust features to make CSS development more efficient and enjoyable.

Key Features of Stylus

• Optional use of colons, semicolons, and braces
• Variables and mixins for reusable code
• Nested selectors for improved readability
• Built-in functions and operations
• Seamless integration with Node.js

Stylus Syntax

Stylus offers a flexible syntax that allows developers to write CSS with minimal punctuation. Here's a basic example:

// Stylus syntax
body
  font 14px Arial, sans-serif
  background #f0f0f0

.container
  width 80%
  margin 0 auto
    

This Stylus code compiles to standard CSS:

body {
  font: 14px Arial, sans-serif;
  background: #f0f0f0;
}

.container {
  width: 80%;
  margin: 0 auto;
}
    

Variables in Stylus

Stylus makes it easy to define and use variables, enhancing code maintainability:

// Define variables
primary-color = #3498db
secondary-color = #2ecc71

// Use variables
.button
  background-color primary-color
  color #fff

  &:hover
    background-color secondary-color
    

Mixins for Reusable Styles

Mixins allow you to create reusable blocks of CSS properties:

border-radius(n)
  -webkit-border-radius n
  -moz-border-radius n
  border-radius n

.box
  border-radius(5px)
    

Advantages of Using Stylus

• Cleaner, more readable code
• Improved productivity with less typing
• Easy integration with existing CSS
• Powerful features like functions and loops
• Compatibility with CSS Preprocessor Variables and CSS Preprocessor Mixins

Getting Started with Stylus

To begin using Stylus, you'll need to install it via npm:

npm install stylus -g
    

Once installed, you can compile Stylus files to CSS using the command line:

stylus input.styl -o output.css
    

Best Practices

• Maintain consistent indentation for nested selectors
• Use variables for colors, sizes, and other repeated values
• Leverage mixins for cross-browser compatibility
• Organize your Stylus files modularly
• Consider using Stylus in conjunction with CSS Framework Customization for enhanced flexibility

By mastering Stylus basics, you can significantly improve your CSS workflow and create more maintainable stylesheets. As you become more comfortable with Stylus, explore its advanced features to further optimize your development process.