Category: Web Development

CSS Grid just shipped in Chrome, Firefox, and Safari within weeks of each other. After years of spec work and browser implementation, we finally have a proper layout system for the web. No more floats-as-layout. No more clearfix hacks. No more flexbox contortions.

This should be a huge moment. But here's the uncomfortable truth: most developers won't use Grid for months or years, because unlearning decades of CSS hacks is harder than learning Grid itself.

What Grid Actually Does

CSS Grid lets you define two-dimensional layouts—rows and columns—explicitly. Place items in specific grid cells, span multiple cells, create gaps, and it just works.

.container {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: 200px 1fr 200px;
  grid-template-rows: auto 1fr auto;
  gap: 20px;
  height: 100vh;
}

.header {
  grid-column: 1 / -1; /* span all columns */
}

.sidebar {
  grid-column: 1;
  grid-row: 2;
}

.main {
  grid-column: 2;
  grid-row: 2;
}

This is what we should have had in 1998. Instead, we've spent 20 years stacking hacks on hacks because CSS wasn't designed for application layouts.