/RCSS

Turn your JavaScript objects into CSS classes.

Primary LanguageJavaScript

RCSS

Warning: deprecated. The "CSS in JS" experiment has been successful and there are now much more polished alternatives:

Turn your JavaScript objects into CSS classes.

Designed with React and Browserify in mind.

npm install rcss

Demo of the example folder output here. No CSS files involved.

Overview

button.js:

var RCSS = require('rcss');

var button = {
  display: 'inline-block',
  padding: '6px 12px',
  // CamelCased. Transformed back into the dashed CSS counterparts on-the-fly.
  marginBottom: '0',
  ':hover': {
    color: 'blue'
  }
};

module.exports = RCSS.registerClass(button);

index.js

/** @jsx React.DOM */

var React = require('React');
var RCSS = require('RCSS');

var button = require('./button');

RCSS.injectAll();

React.renderComponent(
  <button className={button.className}>Hello!</button>,
  document.body
);

Easy =).

API

RCSS.registerClass(styleObject)

Wrap the style declaration and register it internally. Returns a new object of the format: {className: 'uniqueClassName', style: originalStyleObj}. You can then use to the opaque className and the style object however you want.

RCSS.injectAll()

A top-level call that parses all the registered style objects into real CSS, puts the result in a style tag, and injects it in the document head. This clears the styles registry.

RCSS.cascade(styleObj1, styleObj2, ...)

A simple merge utility that returns a new object. Typically used this way.

RCSS.getStylesString()

For server-side rendering, you'd want the big style string instead of calling injectAll(). In fact, injectAll() is nothing but a helper that takes the output of getStylesString, creates a tag and fill the content, and puts it in head.

Motivations

  • Client-side asset bundling is complicated. RCSS piggy rides on whatever require implementation you use (Browserify, Webpack, etc.), so there's no extra compilation step.
  • Use the full power of a programming language with CSS.
  • No CSS preprocessor needed. There is no domain-specific language to learn, since you're constructing your JavaScript objects in... well, JavaScript.
  • CSS namespacing for free.
  • Cascading for free through simple object merges.
  • Validates your CSS properties.
  • ... And more to come. Just imagine what you can do to normal objects.

License

MIT.