If website design and development is something you do, then Cascading Style Sheets should be as common as your morning coffee. And if by some random chance you’ve made it this far without the use of CSS in your web development, this may be just the place to find some links that can take you down the road to enlightenment. Keep in mind that this is not intended to be an exhaustive list of resources, but rather an attempt to soften the learning curve a bit.

Lets dive in, after the jump…

Why CSS?

I’m not the type to blindly jump into learning a technology. I need to know what the benefits are for my taking the time to do so. These were some very useful sites that helped me wrap my head around not only CSS, but around the bigger picture commonly referred to as Web Standards and how CSS plays its part.

• The benefits of Web Standards - a great presentation from MaxDesign.com
• What Makes CSS So Great? - CSS-pioneer Eric Meyer on CSS.
• Design Rant! - Owen Briggs on why CSS is necessary, and how to apply it.

Sign Me Up!

So, CSS will save the world, right? Well, no. But it may save your website. So I’m sure you want to get started right away. Don’t know where to begin? No worries, the WDG (Web Design Group) has a nice reference for those who are completely new to the subject.

• Guide to Cascading Style Sheets

Daily Nourishment

The links above should get the average CSS noob up and running. But if you’re a quick learner, or if you’ve already got the basic concepts of CSS down and want a few more references, I’ve got you covered. Here are number of other resources I’ve found useful in the daily routine over the last few years.

• NYPL Style Guide - another great “basics” site.
• A List Apart - a multi-author website design showcase.
• CSS Panic Guide - a quite thorough list of fast references.
• Brainjar - some really nifty concepts using CSS with Javascript.
• Position Is Everything - Pie is good … and so is this site.
• Index DOT Css - when you need the nitty-gritty on each and every CSS property.

And while I find online references to meet the majority of my needs on a day-to-day basis, there’s something to be said for the offline references as well. There’s countless books on the subject, but two that come to mind as must-haves from this humble developer are Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide and CSS Pocket Reference, the latter I keep on my desk at all times.

Inspiration

Finally, if you’re like me, you regularly become hungry for interesting new ideas and concepts in the realm of standards-based web site designs. Here are a few of my favorite sites that should tickle your fancy in that arena.

• css Zen Garden - the site that got me hooked.
• Unmatched Style - devoted to recognizing beautiful website designs.
• CSS Beauty - a database of awesome design ideas and useful how-tos

If you know of more must-have CSS resources, please add your favorites to the comments section below.