The minification of CSS, also called “compression”, is a technique used to reduce the code to the minimum terms. Minimize […]
The minification of CSS , also called “compression”, is a technique used to reduce the code to the minimum terms. Minimizing the latter means removing empty spaces, new lines, comments, block delimiters and all that is superfluous from the functional point of view. It is therefore a process that reduces the source by removing unnecessary elements from it.
On the Net there are several free tools that make the CSS minification operation simple; keep in mind that it is always a good idea to create a backup copy of the original non-minimized file. Here are some useful resources.
Tools to optimize and clean up the CSS code
- CodeBeautifier : it is an easy to use CSS minification service that allows us to insert our CSS code and obtain a compressed output of the same.
- CleanCss : a tool that automatically optimizes and reduces the size of CSS codes, grouping selectors and properties; this, like the previous one, returns the code cleaned up by the superfluous elements.
Tools for testing the CSS code
- W3C – Validation Service : platform created by the W3C for the verification of the CSS code. Offered both as a web service available on the Internet for free and as a Java application, it allows you to check style sheets with respect to specifications, identifying syntax errors or any incorrect use of CSS by providing useful information in terms of usability.
- CSSAnalyzer : allows you to test the CSS code by also checking the units of measurement and color contrasts . The only operation required will be to enter the URL of the website and the service will return a complete report thanks to which the necessary code corrections can be performed.
Tools to analyze the speed of the website
After you have minified your CSS code it will be useful to analyze the effects of this procedure in terms of performance, so it could be useful services like Gtmetric , Google Page Speed and Pindgdom
CSS minification is a must to improve the performance of a website, so you just have to experiment with the tools proposed to find out which one is right for you.
