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Thania Abrahams
972 PointsThe normalize css file and the browser default specifications
Hi there
In the "What is CSS" video, Nick Pettit has us add the normalize.css file to our HTML in order to override the default browser settings but then in the video certain things that we code are not shown and we need to get even more specific than the browser. Is this because the normalize file was not specific enough? Am failing to understand the point of the normalize file if it does not in fact create a level playing field for which we can add custom css.
2 Answers
Kevin Korte
28,149 PointsI'm not sure in the video, but in general it's a fine balance for CSS resets like normalize.css. They don't want to be too heavy, nor too opinionated, so they tend to stay light.
Really, what normalize does is it causes the different browsers to render elements the same. It's mostly dealing with default margins and paddings on elements, font properties, etc. It's generally a pretty subtle change, but each browser can have it's own default for rendering an element, and to smooth those out is the goal.
Thania Abrahams
972 PointsI am impressed that you understood my question, am not very good at them :) Thank you, that makes perfect sense. So it is to level the playing field amongst multiple browser rendering not specific elements etc. Got you!
Kevin Korte
28,149 PointsNo worries, it's a common question. Right, it's so all the different browsers render base styles for elements consistently. There is not a standard here, so they all tend to do it a bit differently. It can cause minor inconsistencies in your design. This just helps them play nicely.