Using DevTools to understand modern CSS layouts

A presentation at Connect Fest in in Porto, Portugal by Chen Hui Jing

Flexbox, Grid and Box Alignment are the cornerstones of modern CSS layouts. They introduce behaviours that might seem confusing if you don’t completely understand how the browser inteprets the CSS values you assign, e.g. sizing with Flexbox, or the various options for sizing tracks in Grid.

DevTools may have started out as a debugging tool, but today, it can also aid in our understanding and visualisation of how the browser interprets various CSS values. This can help us reconcile the layouts we want to build with what is actually rendered on the page.

This talk will explain a variety of modern CSS layout techniques through live demonstrations using DevTools as the main form of delivery (as opposed to just talking over slides), and provide real-world use cases of how such techniques allow designs to better adapt across a broad range of viewports.

Buzz and feedback

Here’s what was said about this presentation on social media.