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CSS

Posted by Eppu Vahtola
Eppu Vahtola
8,531 Points

linking to normalize.css

What are the benefits to downloading the normalize.css file to your own server, as opposed to linking the github css file straight to your html-document, this way the version would always be up to date?

2 Answers

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
243,656 Points
Steven Parker
Steven Parker
243,656 Points

"Always up to date" may have drawbacks as well as advantages. A recent update might introduce something that is incompatible with your code. So while it's unlikely to be a problem, running only with a version you have tested with can be desirable when site reliability is critical.

Another potential reliability issue might arise if the hosting server was experiencing an outage or bottleneck. Providing files from your own server will always work if the user has access to the page content to begin with.

Eppu Vahtola
Eppu Vahtola
8,531 Points
Eppu Vahtola
Eppu Vahtola
8,531 Points

Thank you Steven, that makes sense! A follow up question though: For example let's say I have made a site with the normalize version 3.0, and it is now at 7.0, would it be a good practice to download the latest version, and if there is no compatibility issues, update that to the website, and do this every once in a while when normalize is updated?

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
243,656 Points
Steven Parker
Steven Parker
243,656 Points

Yes, but I wouldn't consider it a high priority. The main value in updating would be when the older version wasn't doing the job of creating consistent cross-browser behavior, but the update fixed those issues for your specific application.