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Cover image for Embracing Viewport Height (vh) in CSS over px, rem, and Percentage for Consistent Design Across Screens
Rafa Rafael
Rafa Rafael

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Embracing Viewport Height (vh) in CSS over px, rem, and Percentage for Consistent Design Across Screens

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) offer a myriad of units for expressing dimensions, each with its own set of advantages and limitations. In this exploration, we'll delve into the scenario of designing for both extra-large screens, such as laptops, and larger monitors. We'll demonstrate how using viewport height (vh) proves to be a superior choice compared to percentage and fixed units like px and rem. Our journey will be enhanced by leveraging the convenience of Tailwind CSS for seamless implementation.

The Challenge of Diverse Screen Sizes:
Imagine you're tasked with creating a visually appealing landing page that needs to look stunning on both a 15-inch laptop and a 27-inch desktop monitor. Using percentage or fixed units may lead to inconsistent designs, with elements appearing too small on the larger screen and too large on the laptop, creating a disjointed user experience.

Example:

<div class="h-50vh bg-blue-500">
  <!-- This div will take up 50% of the viewport height on both screens, maintaining consistency -->
</div>
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Responsive Harmony with Viewport Height:
By adopting viewport height, you ensure that your design elements scale proportionally based on the height of the viewport. This means that whether the user is on a laptop or a larger monitor, the visual experience remains consistent and engaging.

Example:

<section class="h-75vh bg-green-300">
  <!-- This section will take up 75% of the viewport height, providing a consistent appearance across screens -->
</section>
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Tailwind CSS Making it Effortless:
Tailwind CSS's utility classes make incorporating vh into your design a breeze. This is particularly advantageous when faced with the challenge of catering to varying screen sizes, as it allows you to maintain a uniform look and feel without diving into complex CSS calculations.

Example:

<header class="h-20vh bg-gray-800">
  <!-- This header will take up 20% of the viewport height, ensuring a consistent header size on different screens -->
</header>
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Avoiding Inconsistencies:
By relying on viewport height, you sidestep the potential pitfalls of using fixed units like pixels or relative units like percentages. This is especially crucial when dealing with components that are meant to anchor your design, such as headers or hero sections.

In conclusion, in the realm of diverse screen sizes, viewport height emerges as the secret weapon for developers striving for a harmonious and consistent design. The showcased examples, coupled with the developer-friendly nature of Tailwind CSS, underscore how vh efficiently addresses the challenges posed by using percentage or fixed units, especially when dealing with extra-large screens. By integrating vh into your development workflow, you not only simplify your task but also ensure a polished and unified user experience, irrespective of the device in hand.

Enjoy!

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