So we all know optimization is a good thing. Whether it’s optimizing your images for the smallest file size or creating your html so that it renders correctly and cleanly - optimization is good.

But what about optimizing your CSS? There have been a few sites popping up lately that offer these services for you. Upload your CSS file and it strips out all the white space, line breaks, combines repeated elements and much more.

I personally have never worked on a site where the CSS got out of hand but I know a few developers who have created some extensive CSS for their sites and they would be the ones that this service would be optimal for.

In the grand scheme of things the optimization of a small CSS file for a standard site won’t make that much of a difference (unless it’s a high traffic site, then the bandwidth savings might be in your best interest).

The downside? Once your CSS is optimized it’s practically illegible so make sure you keep a backup for making changes in the future. I suggest that optimizing your CSS be the last step once you have everything else working and displaying correctly in your site.

For the beginners out there, it’s absolutely crucial that your CSS validates before you compress it because if it doesn’t some pretty unexpected results can occur.

Here’s the CSS optimizer I recommend - Icey - it creates the smallest file size out of any of them and usually has the fewest mistakes after compression.

Happy Compressing!

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Last month, A List Apart released results from a survey they sent to 33,000 web designers, developers and coders.

Some of the results are not surprising at all but some were quite shocking. For example - did you know that of those 33,000 participants - only 16% were female! How can that be?

I knew of course that were more men than women in this field when I started and although it’s gotten better over the last few years - the disparity is still quite high - but 16%? Wow - that totally blew my mind.

1 out of every 6 web designers/developers is a woman and of those only a handful identify themselves as a developer - most stick with the label of designer.

I think there’s definitely a bit of a stigma amongst women who do this type of work - I think the coding and technical side of things kind of scares them so they decide to lean towards the creative aspect of the field.

Don’t give up ladies! If you are thinking of pursuing a career in the web technologies field - don’t shy away because it looks too technical, you’ll be much happier if you embrace your inner geek!

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