Augment ITCSS

This is an augmented css folder structure that originates from the Inverted Triangle CSS architecture originally created to assist in the building of easily scalable code bases that lessens the amount of cognitive overhead.

Table of Contents

1. Under the Hood
2. Architecture Scopes
3. Global Scope's Basic Overview
4. Modules & Frameworks Scope's Basic Overview
5. The Integration of BEM
6. Resources
7. Core Contributors
8. License

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Under the Hood

This css architecture is pretty opinionated and makes use of the following tools:

• Sass

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Architecture Scopes

Within the Augmented-ITCSS Framework, there are different directories based upon the needs of that specific scope. Feel free to tweak it to best fit your project's needs.

• Global Scope

  • The "Global Scope" is heavily copied from the original idea of the itcss created by Harry Roberts with a couple added pieces.

• Module Scope

  • The "Module Scope" is a restructuring of the "Objects" and "Components" layers of the original itcss architecture. It adds a new directory named "modules" to the architecture. This was added to give each module its own itcss architecture, which increases the ability to manage and scale modules effortlessly.

• Frameworks Scope

  • Similarly to the "Module Scope", the "Frameworks Scope" was created for layout specific modules. This creates a separation of powers between the modules and their frameworks, which will allow the freedom to pair frameworks and modules at your heart's content.

• Building Blocks

  • Similarly the the "Module Scope", the "Building Blocks Scope" was created for tiny reusable pieces that can be used within the website. This creates a further separation of powers between the modules and the most common and reusable pieces within a website UI.

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Global Scope's ITCSS - Basic Overview:

Lets talk about the purpose of each layer within the itcss Global Scope architecture.

• SETTINGS

  • The Settings layer does not contain any styles. It only houses variables and other configuration needs.
  • Examples: breakpoints, animations, colors, spacers, font-size, line height, etc.

• GENERIC

  • The Generic layer is houses very high-level, far reaching styles that are commonly used on every web project.
  • Example: Normalize.css, Box-sizing, Form Input Resets, Headings Reset, etc.

• TOOLS

  • Mixins and functions that are used to make it easy to apply commonly used code chunks and logic to the other elements.
  • Example: positions, text-sizes, media-queries, fonts, cursors, etc.

• UTILITIES

  • Classes that can be applied to html elements or used within tools and other modules / frameworks to help with DRY coding techniques
  • Utilities help separate general global styles to increases flexibility and can be added and changed freely.
  • Examples: color, font, text-size, padding, align, background, etc.

• ELEMENTS

  • All style directly associated to the html selectors.
  • Example: h1...h6, p, blockquote, body, html, hr, ul, ol, li, etc.

• BUILDING BLOCKS

  • All modules that are the smallest building block pieces that will be used to create modules and frameworks in the form of macros.
  • These are similar to elements, but they are styles using classes, not the html element themselves.
  • Example: svgs, button, links, ux, inputs, responsive images, etc.

• MODULES

  • Modules are coding the main coding chunks of the project.
  • These utilize building blocks and custom styles and are placed within frameworks.
  • These pieces fit inside frameworks, but understanding the separation can be subjective
  • Example: navigation, banner, hero-banner, etc.

• FRAMEWORKS

  • Frameworks are pieces of code that wrap around modules to ensure they are correctly laid out on the browser window. Generally associated with custom grid.
  • These pieces fit inside frameworks, but understanding the separation can be subjective
  • Example: main-header, main-footer, sidebar, line-break grid, light-box grid, thirds grid, etc.

• TRUMPS

  • All styles that must always trump all other styles. Therefor, they all have the !important tag attached to them.

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Building Blocks, Modules & Frameworks Scope's ITCSS - Basic Overview:

Lets talk about the purpose of each layer within the itcss "Building Blocks", "Modules" & "Frameworks" Scope's architecture.

All "Building Blocks", "Modules" & "Frameworks" Scope's could all have any of the options listed in the "Global Scope's" description above. However, there are a couple additions that are important to note. Note: These are just the ones that pertain to our projects. Feel free to tweak based of your projects needs.

• OBJECTS

  • These are concerned with styling non-cosmetic design patterns, or 'objects'.

• COMPONENTS

  • The Components layer is where we begin to style recognizable pieces of UI.

• ANIMATIONS

  • Applying animations to elements

• PROGRESSIVE ENHANCEMENTS

  • Create smooth degradation when browser capabilities decrease.

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The Integration of BEM

BEM (Block Element Modifier) is a methodology, that helps you to achieve reusable components and code sharing in the front-end. BEM naming conventions are how Module's and Framework's ITCSS Objects and ITCSS Components are organized. Refer to example below for clearer understanding of the file structure.

frameworks
  simple-framework
    simple-framework-objects
      _simple-framework-objects.styles.sass
      simple-framework-objects-block.sass
      simple-framework-objects-element.sass
      simple-framework-objects-modifier.sass
    simple-framework-components
      _simple-framework-components.styles.sass
      simple-framework-components-block.sass
      simple-framework-components-element.sass
      simple-framework-components-modifier.sass

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Resources

• ITCSS
• Harry Roberts
• BEM

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Core Contributors

• Matthew Soyka

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License

The MIT License

Copyright (c) 2017 MilesHerndon

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

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