CSS is a language used for formatting HTML and other markup languages. A CSS document serves as a master plan for styles and layout on a website. CSS editors can be web apps or standalone products, and may include other languages. They can be simple or include syntax highlighting, validation, and previews. Lite versions can be downloaded for free, and there are options for beginners and professionals. Web designers should ensure their editor supports the version of CSS they plan to use.
CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets, a language used as a formatting tool for HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and other markup languages that has been approved by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). A CSS document serves as a master plan for the styles and layout used in a web page or website. Site-wide style decisions are repeated once and applied many times, saving the site designer work and time in site rendering. A CSS editor is a tool for creating or editing a CSS document and can improve the workflow for creating CSS stylesheets.
A CSS editor can be a web app, a standalone product. Alternatively, it may be a component of a complete web design program, included along with an HTML editor, an XHTML (eXtended HTML) editor, and a JavaScript® editor, or perhaps even multiple languages. XML (EXtensible Markup Language), ASP (Active Server Page), PHP (PHP Hypertext Preprocessor), C and C++, Python, PERL (Practical Extraction Report Language), and SQL (Structured Query Language) are often included. A CSS editor can be cross-platform or just for one brand of operating system, but it’s easy to find for Mac®, Windows® and Unix® systems.
CSS editors can be quite simple – some developers just use a text editing program – or include syntax highlighting to help build and check code, a CSS wizard, and validation. Being able to organize sections of code into folders can make maintenance easier, and previews in one or more browsers can help achieve a universally working design. This may or may not be facilitated with a split window that allows two browsers to be viewed at the same time.
Sometimes, a lite version can be downloaded for free, acting as a demo for a pro version. There are also CSS editors that are more suitable for beginners and others that are more suitable for professionals. Useful templates and/or sample stylesheets from the W3C can be very helpful. In 2010, CSS was in version 2 and version 3 is under development, so web designers planning to work in version 3 should check that the CSS editor they intend to use supports that version.
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