In times when people believe that "AI can code a website in 2 days" (see: how to leverage AI as a customer), what is "coding," and why does the question matter?
What is Coding?
"Welcome to my homepage!" – yes, even AI can do that better now.
AI's Lack of Understanding of CSS
Coding is a skill. But is learning CSS in 2026 nothing but a nerdy hobby? I still think that understanding CSS gives us, as experienced senior web developers, an important advantage. If only to maintain and debug legacy code that AI and juniors struggle to handle.
My series of CSS case studies and quirky edge case insights is definitely nerdy. Its primary audience is one person: my future self, so I can find what I will have forgotten when googling it later. That being said, my CSS posts have gotten very positive reactions in the DEV community. Parallax scrolling with accessibility in mind, parent selectors, and taking colors to the next (CSS) level – what's up next?
What's next? Grid-Lanes Masonry Layout?
Well, I was planning to explore the new native grid-lane-based masonry layout with a practical example. Yet, I'll happily leave the vanguard position for somebody else and just wait until AI suggests appropriate Tailwind classes eventually.
That's it.
I'm still writing, extending, and debugging classic CSS in the meantime. Yet, I'll go for Tailwind, Uniwind, or whatever syntactical sugar is the most productive and maintainable choice when starting a new project.
Tired of the Extremes
I'm tired of AI slop and AI arguments everywhere, but I'm even more tired of code-golf style nerd talk without practical benefit.
I don't identify as a nerd. Despite my passion for creativity, writing, and productive procrastination, I also love getting things done, finishing a project, and calling it a day. I love to close my laptop, go for a walk, and turn off my mobile. I'm still working on all that, aiming to socialize more, listen better, be an ally, and sell my services.
Pragmatism: Don't be a Nerd, get Things done!
More impact, less perfectionism:
Let's build products that matter. Let's stick to quality.
Let's make our codebase maintainable without getting nerdy about perfect, clean code optimization. Let's use AI without blindly trusting it.
Let's get a little bit less nerdy, stop talking about AI so much, and get more things done.
Conclusion: is CSS all but a Hobby?
No, CSS isn't only a nerdy hobby, when it helps you get things done. It is if it doesn't. Understanding style sheets is still fundamentally important, even if you're 100% vibe coding.
Nothing else matters.
By the way, this text was 100% human-written without any AI assistance, apart from Grammarly and image generation – and despite a 20% AI GPT likelihood score. Even when it comes to AI detection, AI can get it all wrong. How many of these words did I type by hand or speak in person? It doesn't matter. How much of my code is written by AI? Again, it doesn't matter. Impact matters. Nothing else matters.
