CSS3 Pushing the Limits

Chapter 16

The Future of CSS

I hope that this book has gone some way to showing you how much CSS is developing as a language to tackle age-old issues as well as to provide solutions for problems you didn't even know you had yet. On that point, though, it's important to note that the CSS Working Group is an extremely rational and sensible bunch and will develop only features that aim to solve real-world problems, not just features that look cool and exciting.

In terms of the future, CSS3 is actually the last numbered version of CSS, which could understandably lead you to think that the language's development is approaching a stage of actual completion. Of course, this couldn't be further from the truth because the development of CSS is as strong and vibrant as it's ever been. So what's the deal with CSS3 being the last version?

The truth is that the way in which CSS is being developed has altered to allow for a faster, more streamlined process, ensuring that new features are quicker to reach a stage that is considered stable enough for implementation by browsers.

There is no such thing as CSS4. That's right—despite what you may have seen around the web offering you a “sneak peak at CSS4.”

CSS1 and 2.1 were large, collective specifications, but everything within has since been modularized, which you have probably noticed throughout this book as I referenced the individual modules. For example, CSS3 consists of a vast (and ever increasing) range of different modules (such as Backgrounds ...