The Sass vs. CSS Debate: Is Sass Really That Superior?

As someone who just started exploring Sass, I have to say, it's easy to see why so many people are into it. Nesting styles, for one, is a game-changer—it saves a ton of time and makes the code look cleaner. But as I dig a bit deeper, I can't help but ask: Is Sass really as superior as everyone makes it out to be? Let's break down a few points and see if it really stands out compared to plain CSS.

1. The Nesting Advantage

Let's be real, nesting in Sass is a lifesaver. It lets you write styles in a hierarchical way, making it easier to see which styles belong to which elements. For example:

.navbar {
  background-color: $nav-color;

  .nav-item {
    color: $nav-item-color;

    &:hover {
      color: $nav-item-hover-color;
    }
  }
}

In the example above, the nested structure makes it clear that .nav-item and &:hover are part of .navbar. This readability is one of the biggest perks of Sass, and honestly, it's why I love Sass.

2. Variables: The Not-So-Unique Feature

One of the most talked about features of Sass is its variables. You can define colors, fonts, and other values in one place and reuse them throughout your stylesheets. Here's a simple example:

$primary-color: #3498db;

.button {
  background-color: $primary-color;
}

However, CSS has caught up with CSS custom properties (CSS variables).

:root {
  --primary-color: #3498db;
}

.button {
  background-color: var(--primary-color);
}

Moreover, CSS custom properties allow for multiple fallback values using the var() function. This feature is handy when the main variable might not be defined, and you want to provide alternate values. For example:

.one {
  /* Red if --my-var is not defined */
  color: var(--my-var, red);
}

In the above example, if --my-var isn't defined, the code will fall back to red. If a variable isn't defined in Sass, it will result in an error unless you manually set a default value using the !default flag, but this doesn't offer the same level of dynamic fallback as CSS variables.

3. Partials and Imports: A Bit More Work

Sass lets you split your styles into partials and import them as needed. This sounds convenient, but it also adds extra steps. In a React project, for example, if you define global styles in app.scss and want to use them in a component, you must import app.scss in each component's Sass file:

@import 'app.scss';

.component {
  color: $primary-color;
}

With CSS, once you include a global stylesheet, its styles are available everywhere. No need to import anything in specific components, which simplifies the workflow.

4. Mixins: The Convenience vs. Complexity Debate

Mixins in Sass are often highlighted as a major advantage. They allow you to create reusable chunks of code that can include variables and other logic. For example:

@mixin theme($theme: DarkGray) {
  background: $theme;
  box-shadow: 0 0 1px $theme;
  color: #fff;
}
.info {
  @include theme;
}
.alert {
  @include theme(DarkRed);
}
.success {
  @include theme(DarkGreen);
}

In the example above, the theme mixin helps apply consistent styling across different components, while allowing for different color schemes. This is a powerful feature of Sass, enabling efficient and DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) code.

To achieve similar functionality in pure CSS, you would need to use a combination of CSS custom properties and class names, like this:

.theme {
  color: #fff;
  background: var(--theme-color, DarkGray);
  box-shadow: 0 0 1px var(--theme-color);
}

.info {
  --theme-color: DarkGray;
}

.alert {
  --theme-color: DarkRed;
}

.success {
  --theme-color: DarkGreen;
}

In this CSS example, we use custom properties (--theme-color) to dynamically set the background color. While this achieves a similar result to the Sass mixin, it requires a bit more setup and doesn't allow for as much complexity, such as including additional styles or logic inside the mixin. Mixins are undoubtedly one of Sass's strengths, offering a level of reusability and flexibility that can simplify complex style rules and this is another great advantage SASS has over CSS

Sass definitely has its perks, especially for nesting and organizing styles. But as CSS evolves, the gap between the two is shrinking. So, while Sass offers some conveniences, it's not the only way to write efficient and maintainable styles. CSS has grown up and can handle most tasks just fine. But hey, that's just my take. What do you think? Drop any Sass features you think are really good! Let's keep the conversation going and learn from each other.

Comments

[Alain D'Ettorre]

I've been a big fan of SCSS since I started using Angular many years ago. I even wrote a small library with it (sass-pal). And yet, CSS have caught up with features lately, while most other styling solutions do not involve SCSS anymore (CSS-in-JS, Tailwind). SCSS has served us well for over a decade but now it's maybe time to retire it

[Bridget Amana]

So true

[Jon Randy 🎖️]

Nesting is also available in regular CSS. Has been for some time:

& nesting selector - CSS: Cascading Style Sheets | MDN

The CSS & nesting selector explicitly states the relationship between parent and child rules when using CSS nesting. It makes the nested child rule selectors relative to the parent element. Without the & nesting selector, the child rule selector selects child elements. The child rule selectors have the same specificity weight as if they were within :is().

developer.mozilla.org

[Bridget Amana]

Ohh
Thank you for this