"Media query breakpoints are anathema to design systems," so Heydon found a way to make Flexbox switch directly between multiple and single column layouts. No media queries; no JS!

As toolchains grow and become more complex, unless you are expertly familiar with them, it’s very unclear what transformations are happening in our code. Tracking the differences between the input and output and the processes that code underwent can be overwhelming. When there’s a problem, it’s increasingly difficult to hop into the assembly line and diagnose the issue and often there’s not an precise fix.

I also unintentionally, (at least at first) removed all traces of Sass from my codebase. This was not something I set out to do but the more I looked at my old Sass files the more I questioned whether it was adding value to my site, or just an extra level of complexity and dependency. CSS has evolved over recent years and the problems that lead me to Sass in the first place seem to be less of an issue today.

One question I’ve seen posed a few times in the past several months is whether performance really is a moral or ethical concern, or if that’s all heavy-handed exaggeration. When you stop to consider all the implications of poor performance, it’s hard not to come to the conclusion that poor performance is an ethical issue.

Let’s make 2019… fast! An annual front-end performance checklist (PDF/Apple Pages/MS Word), with everything you need to know to create fast experiences today. Updated since 2016.