CSS Compressor: What is it?

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CSS programming allows website owners to create designs and set colors, but a CSS compressor reduces unnecessary coding, such as comments and extra characters. This can improve loading times and decrease bandwidth usage. CSS compressors can retain some comments and offer compression levels for readability.

Cascading style sheet (CSS) programming allows website owners to create designs and set colors, and a CSS compressor is a program that reduces this coding. When most people create a CSS file, they type in more words or characters than they really need, and a CSS compressor removes these unnecessary characters. Creators sometimes add comments to CSS and the compressor usually removes or shortens them. Most compressors have a comprehension level that users can select and this will determine how easy it is for a person to read the CSS. By limiting the amount of characters in the CSS code, website owners may notice better loading and lower bandwidth usage.

When people hand-code their CSS, they typically add more characters than they really need. For example, when people specify padding in CSS, they may add four lines for padding on each side, but only one line is really needed. A CSS compressor takes those instances and reduces the CSS to the minimum possible amount.

Some people put comments in their CSS. These comments can be just for fun or they can be of great importance to website owners. Regardless of why they are placed in CSS, they require more code, and even if the comments are not seen by visitors, the site will still take longer to load. When a CSS compressor is used, it will remove such comments completely, or if users request it, the compressor may retain a part, or characters, from the comments.

When it comes to optimizing CSS for speed, it should be done as one large block using CSS abbreviations and limiting the encoding to the minimum amount of characters needed. At the same time, it is very difficult for people to read and could make editing difficult. This leads most CSS packers to have a level of compression and might offer some leeway so people can still read the code with ease.

The only thing a CSS compressor does is strip away letters and numbers, and the CSS file itself will typically only lose a small amount of digital weight. At the same time, websites are meant to be lightweight, and uploading a small CSS file thousands of times a month can eat up bandwidth. By compressing the file, most website owners will see their website load faster and bandwidth usage will typically decrease.




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