CSS3: What's the hype?

CSS has streamlined the process of adding typographical design layouts to HTML-based web design and ended the need for extensive mark-ups of HTML code in order to customize the appearance of web page layouts. Previous versions of CSS have been tried, tested, and had many of the bugs ironed out, but the release of CSS3 brings some additional features and greater functionality that have long been anticipated. These new features are in various stages of recommendation by W3C, but they are being implemented and tested. Although CSS3 is still not compatible with every browser, nearly all modules are compatible with the most frequently used browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari.

The first major change is that CSS3 is a module-based style sheet. This is due to the sheer scope of features that this version encompasses, but it should expedite the recommendation and adoption of the most desirable features. Regardless of where each module is in the recommendation process, designers in the CSS community have been hard at work testing and implementing these new features and sharing what they've learned .

One of the most frequently suggested features has finally arrived: multiple background layout capabilities. By using the directives 'background-origin,' 'background-clip,' and 'background-image-size,' designers can fully customize background images, add multiple backgrounds to the same page, and re-size backgrounds within the divs. This feature is on the fast-track to recommendation. The process for rounding document borders has been streamlined to one-step using the '-moz-border-radius' and '-webkit-border-radius' properties, as well as providing the additional ability to add customized images and border decoration.

Another high priority recommendation is the selectors module. This module adds to the style selectors property introduced in previous versions of CSS by allowing assignation of style properties to elements defined in HTML and XML documentation based on their attributes.

Text and color functions have also been greatly improved in this version of CSS. Text shadowing and other text effects are now done within the coding process itself instead of having to use an editing program to enhance the text. This is accomplished by using the 'text-shadow' and other properties. There is also now a word-wrap function available which provides the ability to establish borders based on several different criteria. A range of new colors has been introduced, as well as a property to control the opacity of colored text and images by using the 'A' value. This provides the ability within the divs of controlling color transparency without the necessity of first adding a .gif or png image.

Lower on the recommendation scale are modules for defining such values as namespace, multiple column layouts, 2D and 3D transformations, lists, line layout, and generated and replaced content functions; these have been designated as medium to low-priority.

So far web designers have been pleased with the additions in this latest version of CSS, and are looking forward to further development. Some of the most-anticipated rumored developments are said to be the addition of a math function and improved chart-styling capabilities.