45 lines
1.3 KiB
Markdown
45 lines
1.3 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Do we still need CSS preprocessors?
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date: 2025-02-28
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permalink: daily/2025/02/28/preprocessors
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tags:
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- software-development
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- css
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cta: ~
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snippet: |
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With all the recent improvements to CSS, do we still need preprocessors like Sass and Less?
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---
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Before I started to use [Tailwind CSS][0], I used CSS preprocessors like Less and Sass to add features like variables and nesting to my CSS files.
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Stylesheets would be written in .scss, .sass or .less files and processed to create the stylesheets that would be used by browsers.
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But, with the recent improvements to CSS, do we still need these preprocessors?
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Here's a very small example of some CSS that just works:
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```css
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:root {
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--color-primary: red;
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--color-secondary: green;
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}
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a {
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color: var(--color-primary);
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&:hover, &:focus {
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color: var(--color-secondary);
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}
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}
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```
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It looks like a Sass file, but it's native CSS.
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It has variables (a.k.a. custom properties) and nesting, which I think are the most used features from preprocessors.
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But there's no additional build step to generate the end stylesheet. I can use this stylesheet as it is - making it easier to work on and less confusing for new Developers.
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If I'm not using Tailwind CSS or atomic styles, writing plain CSS files is the approach I'd use.
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No preprocessors needed.
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