CSS: The Pain Is Real

Published on Jun 19, 2025, filed under development, css, maintainability (feed). (Share this on Mastodon or Bluesky?)

Thesis: Proponents of utility CSS ^* (presentational HTML) have never performed a CSS-only redesign ^†.

One could be tempted now to try to state the opposite for proponents of strict separation of concerns between structure, presentation, and behavior—but they haven’t usually, either.

The pain of maintaining CSS is real. ^‡

I believe for one part of the field, the lesson was to move on and couple HTML and CSS so tightly that HTML and CSS essentially became one. Just look at the source of a Tailwind page:

The other part decided to “embrace the suck” (Patrick Murphy via Nanci Pelosi) and to keep concerns separate.

I don’t believe these two responses and their paradigms need to result in drama (though I do think because of the fork, we lost sight of the “lost paradigm,” ID- and class-less development). The preferences seem based on two different conclusions: Life isn’t easy, so let’s make it as easy as we can, vs.—life isn’t easy, so let’s deal with it.

And that’s fine.

Web development philosophy over and out. ✌️

^* “Utility CSS” is a misnomer: “Utility” is in the eye of the beholder and can be labeled many things HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Still, the term serves a purpose by reflecting a spirit, one of usefulness.

^† And won’t be able to using presentational HTML. (No judgment.)

^‡ This needs more precision: The actual reasons for the pain are unforeseen and unforeseeable content and structure changes, changes we try too little to make foreseeable, which in turn is the unspoken key to long-term web maintenance. And this, now, needs elaboration, and yes, I’ve hidden a main point of this article in a footnote.

About Me

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m a web developer, manager, and author. I’ve been working as a technical lead and engineering manager for companies you’ve never heard of and companies you use every day, I’m an occasional contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and I write and review books for O’Reilly and Frontend Dogma.

I love trying things, not only in web development and engineering management, but also in other areas like philosophy. Here on meiert.com I share some of my experiences and views. (I value you being critical, interpreting charitably, and giving feedback.)