Question

I am looking to implement a grid system. I already use jQuery, jQuery UI and less. After a lot of research I came across this solution: semantic grid

Before I consider implementing I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone that has used this grid. Also I’d like to know if anyone has found any better alternatives. The main thing I am looking for is a fluid (must use em or %) and responsive grid.

Answer 1

Well, for one thing, unordered lists forming a grid (or “columns” in the example I clicked) isn’t semantic. Rows? Columns? Grid? That’s a table.

As far as being able to do stuff quickly, it’s never the big structural stuff that eats time when you really learn HTML flow and the way CSS enhances/tweaks it. It’s the granular, nitty-gritty stuff that can become a pain when there’s a lot of arbitrary properties flying around, which is why I’ve tended to shy away from the CSS libraries/frameworks insisting on pushing a grid approach on a system that assumes you’re working with flow.

Browser support has made it a pain but flow is not at all broken by design. In fact it’s qutie powerful, especially now that the worst of the uncooperative browsers are behind us. My advice is to learn CSS in-depth first. Then decide if you want a grid or CSS framework. The key to the least layout pain IMO is to keep it simple and sparse. Frameworks, even good ones, always add more than you need. Whatever you do, assume it will take at least as much time to learn to use a decent framework well as it does to get past those “a-ha!” moments people tend to have when learning CSS/HTML.