Learning Less.js : develop attractive CSS styles efficiently, using the Less CSS preprocessor / Alex Libby.

Online resource; title from cover (Safari, viewed Nov. 7, 2014).

Online resource; title from PDF title page (EBSCO, viewed July 10, 2017).

Includes index.

Cover; Copyright; Credits; About the Author; About the Reviewers; www.PacktPub.com; Table of Contents; Preface; Chapter 1: Introducing Less; The role of HTML and CSS; The limitations of using CSS; The benefits of using CSS preprocessors; Why not just write normal CSS?; Introducing Less as a solution; Why you should use Less; Reducing redundancy with variables; Understanding the syntax of variables; Creating reusable blocks of code; Generating values automatically; Forgetting about vendor prefixes; Creating media queries and animation the simple way; Reusing code across multiple projects.

Compressing CSS automatically for faster websitesSupporting CSS4 standards within Less; Supporting future CSS standards within Less; Summary; Chapter 2: Building a Less Development Toolkit; Choosing an IDE or editor; Installing Sublime Text 2; Adding Less syntax support; Compiling Less files with a standalone compiler; WinLess; SimpLESS; Koala; Installing Crunch!; Compiling from the command line; Watching for changes to Less files; Compiling Less files directly from text editors; Installing the compilation support via a package; Debugging Less in browsers.

Debugging the Less code using FirefoxDebugging the Less code in Chrome; Installing WampServer; Other useful tools; Summary; Chapter 3: Getting Started with Less; Creating the foundation page; Downloading and installing Less; Installing Less on the client side; Using a CDN; Installing Less on the server side; Installing Less using Node; Installing Less using Bower; Using the Bower package; The dangers of using Less on the client side; Exploring the syntax used by Less; Working with variables; Changing variables programmatically; Creating mixins; Nesting styles in Less.

Calculating values using operationsExtending existing styles in Less; Compiling the code and viewing results; Using a standalone compiler; Using the command-line compiler; Compiling Less files using the command line; Watching for changes in Watch mode; Summary; Chapter 4: Working with Variables, Mixins, and Functions; Discovering variables in Less; Creating Polaroid images; Loading variables and setting the scope; Exploring mixins; Creating a web form; Adding basic mixins; Hiding the original mixin; Using the!important keyword; Developing parametric mixins; Passing multiple parameters.

Applying conditions to mixinsUsing special keywords; Creating mixins as functions; Using external libraries; Introducing functions; Creating column-based layouts; Moving calculations to a mixin; Working with the data-uri function; Using the data-uri function -- some words of caution; Summary; Chapter 5: Inheritance, Overriding, and Nesting in Less; Nesting styles in Less; Creating a business card; Examining the process in detail; Inheriting and overriding styles with extend; Using extend to create information alerts; Extending using the all keyword; Namespacing in Less.

If you are a designer or developer who wants to quickly learn how to harness the power of Less.js to write more efficient CSS styles that can be applied to a website of any size, then this book is for you. This book will help you master both the basic functions and advanced features of Less.js. It would be helpful to have some familiarity of writing CSS styles, although no prior experience of using CSS preprocessors is required.

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