August 1st, 2024

Rapidly build efficient sites with Neat, the minimalist CSS framework

Neat is a minimalist CSS framework by Joel Dare, designed for rapid site development with a 3Kb size. It offers customization, responsive design, and supports light/dark themes, promoting efficiency and accessibility.

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Rapidly build efficient sites with Neat, the minimalist CSS framework

Neat is a minimalist CSS framework designed for rapid site development, with a file size of approximately 3Kb before minification. Created by Joel Dare, it draws inspiration from other minimalist sites and is intended for use in blogs, journals, technical sites, documentation, books, and simple shops. Users can easily customize Neat by creating a custom CSS file, allowing for personalizations without altering the original framework.

Neat emphasizes a small footprint, which contributes to faster loading times and lower resource consumption, making it suitable for slow connections. It is built on HTML, ensuring longevity in web technology. The framework avoids minified code to maintain accessibility and ease of learning. The default body max-width is set to 800px to enhance readability, and images are styled to be 100% width by default.

Neat includes various button styles and input fields that support both light and dark themes. It is responsive and features a simple grid system that automatically sizes columns. The framework does not include a header or navigation to minimize complexity. Neat is open-source under the MIT license, encouraging community contributions and discussions on GitHub. Users can find example implementations in the provided repository. Overall, Neat serves as a lightweight and efficient foundation for web design.

AI: What people are saying
The comments on the Neat CSS framework highlight various perspectives and concerns regarding its design and functionality.
  • Some users appreciate the minimalist approach but note the lack of features like headers and navigation, suggesting alternatives like Pure.css.
  • There are concerns about the accessibility and inspectability of minified code, which detracts from the learning experience.
  • Several users reminisce about past CSS tools and frameworks, indicating a nostalgia for earlier web development practices.
  • Some commenters share links to similar projects, fostering a discussion about minimalist CSS options.
  • Criticism arises regarding the need to learn someone else's CSS instead of creating custom solutions.
Link Icon 11 comments
By @arkh - 4 months
> Minified code requires the complexity of a transpiler and makes the site less open for inspection, learning, accessibility, and archive.

The fun of "early" websites was the fact you could just read the source of something you thought was neat and then copy and paste it to your own website. Now you also got this nice animation.

By @muhrizqiardi - 4 months
By @jph - 4 months
Neat lacks a header and navigation; this by design, and may be enough for simple sites. If you want more capability, Pure.css is good to try too https://purecss.io/
By @p0w3n3d - 4 months
I want this "rad widget" from examples. Where can I buy it? https://raw.githubusercontent.com/codazoda/neatcss-examples/...
By @didgeoridoo - 4 months
Ah this project name brought back memories… https://github.com/thoughtbot/neat + bourbon.io was my Sass toolkit of choice for many years back in the early 2010s. For a moment I thought it was getting a pure-CSS revival now that CSS can accomplish most grid/layout stuff natively.
By @ChrisArchitect - 4 months
Shared by the dev in Show HN's often,

Some more discussion in 2023: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35708613

By @cynicalsecurity - 4 months
If I wanted a minimalist CSS, I would simply write my own, which I already did many years ago.

Learning someone else's CSS file as if it's another technology is a questionable fun.

By @Am4TIfIsER0ppos - 4 months
By @efilife - 4 months
Another one?