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A Book Apart #10
Sass for Web Designers
Let’s face it: CSS is hard. Our stylesheets are more complex than they used to be, and we’re bending the spec to do as much as it can. Can Sass help?
A reluctant convert to Sass, Dan Cederholm tells how he came around to the popular CSS pre-processor, and shares just what you need to take better control of your stylesheets (all the while working the way you always have). From getting started to advanced techniques, Dan will help you level up your stylesheets and get back to work in no time.
A reluctant convert to Sass, Dan Cederholm tells how he came around to the popular CSS pre-processor, and shares just what you need to take better control of your stylesheets (all the while working the way you always have). From getting started to advanced techniques, Dan will help you level up your stylesheets and get back to work in no time.
97 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2013
13 people are currently reading
476 people want to read
About the author
Dan Cederholm
23books35followersA designer, author, speaker, husband and father living in Salem, Massachusetts. Dan is the Founder and Principal of SimpleBits, LLC, a tiny web design studio.
A recognized expert in the field of standards-based web design, Dan has worked with YouTube, Microsoft, Google, MTV, ESPN, Electronic Arts, Blogger, Fast Company, Inc. Magazine, and others. With each new project, comes an opportunity to minimize markup and embrace the flexibility of CSS.
Dan is co-founder and designer of Dribbble, a vibrant community for sharing screenshots of your work. Previously, he co-founded and designed Cork’d, the first social network for wine aficionados which was later acquired by Gary Vaynerchuk.
A recognized expert in the field of standards-based web design, Dan has worked with YouTube, Microsoft, Google, MTV, ESPN, Electronic Arts, Blogger, Fast Company, Inc. Magazine, and others. With each new project, comes an opportunity to minimize markup and embrace the flexibility of CSS.
Dan is co-founder and designer of Dribbble, a vibrant community for sharing screenshots of your work. Previously, he co-founded and designed Cork’d, the first social network for wine aficionados which was later acquired by Gary Vaynerchuk.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
November 21, 2013
Great introduction to Sass for those who are wary of the command line or having your css fiddled with too much. You'll come away motivated to get started with Sass, as well as have some basic concepts to start working with.
March 14, 2017
Great little book that gives the ins and outs of using Sass. Combined with Treehouse's Sass basics, I'm feeling comfortable about using this in new projects!
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March 28, 2014I'm already an avid Sass user, so I didn't need convincing. Still I learned a couple of things about Sass that I didn't already know, like nesting property family declarations. I also have a better understanding of the & selector. If you already use Sass, there's not a lot here for you, but it's a nice, quick read that might teach you a little something you didn't already know.
December 25, 2021
I am sometimes using Sass at work and thought it might be nice to know a bit more about it, maybe learn some of its functionalities without having to read through dry documentation. This book proved to be just right for that. Cederholm approaches the topic in a very practical manner with many examples and focusing on the core features which are used most often and which provide the greatest benefit. Good intro into Sass for web designers wanting to improve the readability and the maintainability of their styling files.
July 16, 2017
I've become obsessed with Sass and have taken multiple courses from Treehouse about the preprocessor.
This book benefits those who haven't coded using Sass before and need to know what the differences are and how it improves CSS. I will say that there are a few moments that explained or gave better examples than what I've used before.
It's definitely a good read for Sass beginners.
This book benefits those who haven't coded using Sass before and need to know what the differences are and how it improves CSS. I will say that there are a few moments that explained or gave better examples than what I've used before.
It's definitely a good read for Sass beginners.
October 14, 2020
Актуальними станом 2020 рік в книжці залишились лише 3 та 4 глави про змінні, міксіни, екстенди та інклуди. Будь-яка стаття про Sass/Scss чи оф. сайт розповість те саме.
Коли читав 2 главу про компіляцію в Scout, CodeKit, LiveReload практично скупа девелоперська сльоза котилась по щоках. У всіх тепер вебпаки і галпи.
Коли читав 2 главу про компіляцію в Scout, CodeKit, LiveReload практично скупа девелоперська сльоза котилась по щоках. У всіх тепер вебпаки і галпи.
December 9, 2024
Hats-off to anyone else reading this in 2024/5! I bought this in 2017 but didn't read it until now (long story why)
Now was just the right time... I know a lot will have changed/ evolved, but I'm sure the fundamentals are the same.
I love how the book is straight to the point with no rambling to pad things out, a nice quick and informative read.
Now was just the right time... I know a lot will have changed/ evolved, but I'm sure the fundamentals are the same.
I love how the book is straight to the point with no rambling to pad things out, a nice quick and informative read.
December 3, 2017
So far I’m really impressed with this series. The book is concise, easy to read and understand. I like the passion in the author, the enthusiasm is definitely palatable throughout the book.
July 13, 2018
Solid, tight, and entertaining intro to Sass.
February 21, 2019
A really good short book that has a great introduction to SASS and its powers. Beginners will love it!
March 21, 2025
I don't know how relevant this is in 2025, but back in 2017 this book taught me SASS and it was a huge help in my career.
October 25, 2018
Excellent book helps from setting up the environment to work with the basic functions of the language. For me, this book has become a great revelation that the process of writing styles can be optimized. Also a very useful description of the environment settings. I often have difficulty setting up the tool, so the author has helped me a lot. I was happy to apply some of the techniques from this book on my website. Maybe at the moment there have been no major changes in the process of my development, but I am sure that after a while, learning sass will help me a lot. I also plan to return to this book in order to use this or that technique. Many thanks to the author for an excellent book. I recommend reading this.
December 5, 2013
Exactly what it says on the tin. Like the other 'Books Apart', very concise and straight to the point. Easy to jump in. Dan writes with his typical easy style.
They are nice books, but very expensive. As this is more of a quick reference book (I polished it off in just over an hour), it's really not worth the money for print—just get the eBook.
The reason it doesn't get 5 stars is, although the concision is great for those daunted by Sass, it ends with a bit of a cop-out 'now go and explore for yourself'... I think Dan could have gone a bit deeper here into some other ideas for interesting mixins (I've already developed a few of my own), and what the potential future for Sass holds.
The reason this is a great book for those thinking of playing with Sass is that Dan weaves reference in with narrative. He eases you in, instead of just providing a huge cheat sheet.
Plus the art direction, like the other books, is delicious.
They are nice books, but very expensive. As this is more of a quick reference book (I polished it off in just over an hour), it's really not worth the money for print—just get the eBook.
The reason it doesn't get 5 stars is, although the concision is great for those daunted by Sass, it ends with a bit of a cop-out 'now go and explore for yourself'... I think Dan could have gone a bit deeper here into some other ideas for interesting mixins (I've already developed a few of my own), and what the potential future for Sass holds.
The reason this is a great book for those thinking of playing with Sass is that Dan weaves reference in with narrative. He eases you in, instead of just providing a huge cheat sheet.
Plus the art direction, like the other books, is delicious.
December 21, 2013
Sass for Web Designers proves once again, A Book Apart's series of self help books, get you to do more. I think that is the goal of self help books so I generally go for all their books.
This book had me shaking my fist in the air, not at anything thing the author implies(not really) but at the time I have wasted not already picking up the SASS process. After reading you'll see as I have that it will eventually shave hours of time off you CSS workflows and give you more time to do more interesting things with your CSS.
I am happy I read this and can't wait to try some of the more advanced processes from the final chapter. I have already done some of the basic stuff in my current project and see where this will make my life so much better.
This book had me shaking my fist in the air, not at anything thing the author implies(not really) but at the time I have wasted not already picking up the SASS process. After reading you'll see as I have that it will eventually shave hours of time off you CSS workflows and give you more time to do more interesting things with your CSS.
I am happy I read this and can't wait to try some of the more advanced processes from the final chapter. I have already done some of the basic stuff in my current project and see where this will make my life so much better.
January 2, 2015
This book was a good starting point for understanding SASS and used a cute example throughout the chapters. I enjoyed the real-life examples Cederholm pointed to, but the subject matter was just a little too dry to love and leave understood to the degree I was hoping. But, that is kind of just the way it goes with a coding book. I learned more about SASS actually playing with it via tutorials and websites with browser-based IDEs. However, for someone who wants a reference at hand and doesn't have the internet for some reason, this book is great!
May 8, 2014
This is a lightweight, informative book that doesn't say much of anything you couldn't learn by spending an hour on the Sass website. It covers installation and compilation and then explains the main features of Sass, including mixins, variables, and nesting, showing how each compiles into vanilla CSS. Toward the end, it gives some useful suggestions for advanced applications of Sass to simplify responsive media queries and variable-resolution image styles.
September 29, 2014
A straight forward introduction to Sass. And fairly short, about 120 pages, so I got through it in one afternoon. The book avoids getting bogged down in frameworks, but promotes using Sass as an extension of your existing CSS knowledge. This to me seems like a very sensible approach. I've read plenty of guides online, but this book I'll be using for reference on future projects. That, and the mixins I stored in my snippets library.
January 2, 2014
This book might be great for starters, but it doesn't bring anything new to the table. By reading the official Sass documentation and a few articles, you could easily get to the same point as anyone who read this book.
But still a fine introduction to the topic, which can be read and get you started with Sass in no time!
But still a fine introduction to the topic, which can be read and get you started with Sass in no time!
December 5, 2013
This is now at the top of my list for resources for people just starting with Sass.
If you've been using it for awhile, you might pick up a few tricks, but you'd mostly likely be better off picking up something else. If, however, you're just starting to dip your toes into it (or are skeptical) this is pretty much perfect. Short, to the point, and very clearly explained.
If you've been using it for awhile, you might pick up a few tricks, but you'd mostly likely be better off picking up something else. If, however, you're just starting to dip your toes into it (or are skeptical) this is pretty much perfect. Short, to the point, and very clearly explained.
January 20, 2014
It feels like I saw oasis in desert because whenever I fix CSS codes, I think code fixing is a kind of no-brain work, repetitive copy & paste. And I knew Scss earlier, I was afraid to learn and use in practice. It's because the process does'n look simple. However this book describes scss with simple and joke. Love to put it into practice.
January 16, 2015
The author does a good job explaining how and why to use Sass. He makes it sound easy enough but then also mentions all these other tools to make it easier, so either it's actually trickier than it looks or developers are really lazy. He doesn't adequately address the effects of the compiling on development or site speed.
December 9, 2013
This is definitely a good introduction if you have no idea what Sass is or are very new to it. If you've used it at all, the last couple of chapters have a few gems in it, but probably not enough to justify the price.
January 24, 2014
Just as Dan Cederholm himself, I was hesitant to approach SASS. But his great book is a great introduction, and a very convincing sales pitch for why one should give SASS a try. I have since then started working with it and I am sure happy Mr. Cederholm convinced me to do so.
December 16, 2013
Rating: 7/10
June 24, 2014
Loved it. Each of the 4 chapters made me feel stronger and smarter. Nice work Dan.
November 28, 2013
una muy buena introducción a Sass si eres diseñador o maquetador web. Pero se queda un poco corto si vas a empezar a utilizar esta tecnología en tus proyectos.
December 2, 2013
Excellent little introduction for those web designers who, like me, wanted to get into using a CSS pre-processor but didn't know how to begin. Highly recommended.
December 14, 2013
Another home run by Dan Cederholm. Would highly recommend to any designer or developer wanting to add Sass to their workflow.
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March 31, 2014Great quick read to get you up to speed with what SASS is all about. I'm ready to dig in!
December 19, 2013
Very well written introduction to SASS for the skeptic. Wish it went a little more deeper
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
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