If we haven't met yet, hi! I'm Lara. Thanks for coming.
I love to write about and share my work with web technologies, as well as general life topics and creative undertakings. Hopefully you'll find something of interest, and maybe learn something new!
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Is CSS a programming language? What is a "CSS algorithm"? Read on to answer these questions, and to learn how CSS fits into the world of programming and computer science.
There is a borderline overwhelming amount of documentation to be written, but gotta start somewhere! Here's a kinda random first addition to Larva's Naming Guidelines wiki page.
Here's a quick write up about a CSS algorithm we just created at PMC! It seems like it will be useful in future projects, and we now have a programmatic term to use to refer to this kind of UI design pattern.
A very cool, test-oriented workflow has emerged with the introduction of Backstop JS into our design system tooling. I recorded some sloppy screencasts to show it off! Watch me struggle and make mistakes and also accomplish things.
For example, a `color` property should not be in an algorithm that is intended for CSS grid properties. This is a potential Stylelint rule that would report that!
In part 2 of this enthusiastically titled mini series, we will set up some test methods in JavaScript. Next will be the test itself! Maybe I'll write that tomorrow, maybe not...
I think I figured out a really cool, fun, exciting, and not complicated way to write tests for CSS algorithms! This post introduces the concept of writing unit tests and test driven development.
A slightly delayed Chronicle, but no less juicy! In preparation for the kick-off of Blueberry, we are figuring out how to actually share and publish modules as the design system (named Larva) becomes a product that stands on its own.
These monsters are working on a house of cards, an experience similar to working on a code-base that has not been tended to appropriately over the years! This is a slide from my "Algorithms in CSS" talk.
I am in Amsterdam, visiting many coffee shops (that's actual coffee shops, not "coffee shops", mind you). I just had a very incredible muffin and created an award to commemorate it!
I took a deep dive into this question, and the answer is: kinda, mostly, yeah! CSS + HTML (duh) + user input is Turing complete. Is it possible to remove the user input part? Then I can re-title this post to be more, ahem, declarative.
Cantaloupe, a.k.a. Deadline.com, has launched!!! This installment of the Chronicles discusses the project's huge success, the beginnings of a design system roadmap, and an introduction to Blueberry, the next code-named redesign for PMC.
Something really disturbing and malicious has been happening to my personal laptop over the past couple of months. This post is part true, part April Fools' joke.
This post is an account of pair programming with a fellow front-end developer to figure out a tricky responsive layout issue. Time for a CSS algorithm!
Have you ever read or learned something and wondered how you were able to operate without that knowledge before? I don't say this lightly: this book is game changer.
This is the first official installment of a new tradition, Binary Birthday, where I re-learn binary every year on my birthday and express my new age as 1s and 0s.
I am about to turn [age] tomorrow. I sat down a few minutes ago to do some last minute reflection on my life so far, and instead opened up my RSS feed. I’m glad I did because I saw this article by Ben Callahan on Sparkbox’s blog, the Foundry.
And here is Part 2! Read this for technical notes about how the Cantaloupe pattern architecture is working out, examples of CSS algorithms, and (for us) the solved problem of JavaScript.
