Introduction to CSS Preprocessors

In the previous chapters, we learned about many aspects of HTML5 and CSS3 web development, including layouts, themes, responsive web design, media, animation, accessibility, and so on.

Inherently, CSS has its own issues with maintenance, particularly with large or complex projects, not to mention that it's limited in terms of its ability to process functions, logic, and variables. CSS preprocessors came about to address such issues and more, extending the capabilities of CSS to help the developer achieve more with less while keeping the code maintainable.

Now, you may have heard of CSS preprocessors such as Syntactically Awesome Style Sheets (SASS), Leaner Style Sheets (LESS), Stylus, and others. These are all scripting languages that allow you to achieve more in CSS by writing less. All these CSS preprocessors have some logic in common, such as the ability to have variables, nesting styles, math calculations, reusable mixins, and so on...