Grid Lanes, Subgrid, and No Extra Wrappers
A narrative walkthrough of how grid lanes, subgrid, and anchor positioning let me remove wrapper-heavy CSS workarounds as a progressive enhancement.
The Lean Web
For a long time, we had to resort to JavaScript hacks and complex workarounds to build the interactive patterns we needed. There simply wasn’t a better way to handle things like responsive menus, modals, or dynamic layouts at the time. But the web has grown up, and today, the browser can handle many of those tasks natively, which also means much more efficiently.
A Manifesto for the Modern Browser
This series is dedicated to a native-first philosophy. It explores the core strengths of semantic HTML and the incredible power of modern CSS to build interfaces where Accessibility and Performance are baked in, not bolted on. By leveraging the browser’s built-in capabilities, the goal is a significantly reduced payload and a more resilient user experience.
To be clear: The lean web is not anti-JavaScript. Instead, JavaScript is treated exactly as intended: a progressive enhancement. It remains a powerful tool for saving user preferences or adding a layer of polish, but it should never be a load-bearing pillar for basic functionality. If a feature can exist without a script, it should.
Articles in this series