Stylus, innovative stylesheet language

Stylus is a dynamic stylesheet preprocessor language that is compiled into CSS. It aims to add functionality to CSS without breaking compatibility across web browsers. It does this using variables, nesting, mixins, functions and more.
Stylus syntax is very flexible. You can use standard CSS syntax and leave the semicolon (;
), colon (:
) and even the ({
) and (}
) optional, making your code even more readable.
Stylus does not provide new style options, but gives functionality that lets you make your CSS much more dynamic.
Code style
Keys, semicolon, and colon are optional in Stylus.
body { color: #000; } body { color: #000 } body { color #000 } body color #000 body color: #000; body color: #000
Selectors
Selecting elements within another element.
body { color: #000000; h1 { color: #FF0000; } } /* Or if you prefer... */ body color #000000 h1 color #FF0000
Getting parent element reference
a { color: #0088dd; &:hover { color: #DD8800; } }
Variable
You can store a CSS value (such as the color) of a variable. Although it is optional, it is recommended to add $
before a variable name so you can distinguish a variable from another CSS value.
$primary-color = #A3A4FF $secondary-color = #51527F $body-font = 'Roboto', sans-serif /* You can use variables throughout your style sheet. Now, if you want to change the color, you only have to make the change once. */ body background-color $primary-color color $secondary-color font-family $body-font /* After compilation: */ body { background-color: #A3A4FF; color: #51527F; font-family: 'Roboto', sans-serif; } / * This is much easier to maintain than having to change color each time it appears throughout your style sheet. * /
Mixins
If you find that you are writing the same code for more than one element, you may want to store that code in a mixin.
center() display block margin-left auto margin-right auto left 0 right 0 /* Using the mixin */ body { center() background-color: $primary-color } /* After compilation: */ div { display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; left: 0; right: 0; background-color: #A3A4FF; }
You can use mixins to create a shorthand property.
size($width, $height) width $width height $height .rectangle size(100px, 60px) .square size(40px, 40px)
You can use a mixin as a CSS property
circle($ratio) width $ratio * 2 height $ratio * 2 border-radius $ratio .ball circle 25px
Interpolation
vendor(prop, args) -webkit-{prop} args -moz-{prop} args {prop} args border-radius() vendor('border-radius', arguments) box-shadow() vendor('box-shadow', arguments) button border-radius 1px 2px / 3px 4px
Functions
Functions in Stylus allow you to perform a variety of tasks, such as recalling some data.
body { background darken(#0088DD, 50%) // Dim color #0088DD by 50% } /* Creating your own function */ add(a, b) a + b body padding add(10px, 5)
Conditions
compare(a, b) if a > b bigger else if a < b smaller else equal compare(5, 2) // => bigger compare(1, 5) // => smaller compare(10, 10) // => equal
Iterations
/* Repeat loop syntax for: for <val-name> [, <key-name>] in <expression> */ for $item in (1..2) /* Repeat block 12 times */ .col-{$item} width ($item / 12) * 100% /* Calculate row by column number */
Now that you know a little about this powerful CSS preprocessor, you’re ready to create more dynamic style sheets. To learn more, visit the official stylus documentation at http://stylus-lang.com.