CSS Architecture

Summary

Strategies (component-based CSS, utility-first, ITCSS, etc.) for organizing stylesheets so they stay maintainable as a codebase grows. A useful architecture balances reuse, isolation, readability, team conventions, build tooling, and the cost of changing styles as the application grows.

• 1Compare how a component-based structure differs from one giant stylesheet. Write down when you would choose each option and what trade-off drives that choice.
• 2Read about the '7-1 pattern' or ITCSS for organizing large CSS codebases. Then apply the idea in a small example so the theory becomes practical.
• 3Notice how utility-first (Tailwind) trades off against component-scoped CSS.