Wait... CSS Can Do That?
Most developers know "a bit" of CSS. Borders and backgrounds, fonts and colours, maybe some basic layout using floats, absolute and relative positioning.
Some developers know CSS "quite well": grids and flexbox, z-indexes, transitions and filters.
Let's take it to the next level. It's 2026. CSS has functions and variables. We've got first-class support for interactive visual effects using keyframe animations, geometric transformations and view transitions - all offloaded to the GPU so it's lightning-fast and won't interfere with your JavaScript. We've got responsive typography using parameterised fonts, and more composition options and blending modes than Photoshop. We can restyle form inputs, create rich user experiences using focus anchors and validation pseudo-classes - we can even tell if the user's device has one of those little Apple camera island screen things on it.
Dylan Beattie's been building web applications since before CSS was invented, and he's been using CSS in production for nearly thirty years. In this hands-on, interactive workshop, Dylan will show you everything you need to know to make cutting-edge modern CSS a trusted part of your engineering toolkit. We'll spend the day working through fun interactive exercises and demos, you'll go away with working code and demos on your laptop, and then you can go into work next week and replace thousands of lines of pointless JavaScript with lightweight, minimal, elegant CSS.
Dylan Beattie is an independent consultant who has been building data-driven web applications since the 1990s. He’s managed teams, taught workshops, and worked on everything from tiny standalone websites to complex distributed systems. He’s a Microsoft MVP, and he regularly speaks at conferences and user groups all over the world.
Dylan is the creator of the Rockstar programming language, and the founder, vocalist and lead guitarist with The Linebreakers, the world's greatest nerd comedy classic rock disco alt punk covers band.