css files sizes

[matthew1471]

I've been redesigning one of my sites, and managed to get the css file size down to 11k, which I'm pretty happy with.

Whilst I was looking at the css files of other websites, I was surprised to see a lot of them were over 120k!

Fair enough most users have broadband etc, but I still think that 120k is a bit much.

These were reputable sites too, not some back street jobby.

Not really sure what my point is, but I guess I was just surprised at the size of them.

 

[radarig]

A lot of sites backload non-essential CSS later into the file. You'll download what you need for the entry pages almost instantly since the link (should be, dear god) is in the header, and you'll cache the rest of it for when you browse. That way they don't have to have smaller CSS files in just some of the pages.

But I have seen smaller sites with one or two pages have ridiculous amounts of CSS. Usually they've had to make loads of edits and didn't pare out the old code when they changed it up. I've never understood why people don't do this in situations like LP design where loadtime is crucial.

 

[matthew1471]

A lot of sites backload non-essential CSS later into the file. You'll download what you need for the entry pages almost instantly

So the browser will parse the css file before it's even finished downloading? Or did I mis-understand you? (Probably the second one!)

I've never understood why people don't do this in situations like LP design where loadtime is crucial.

What's LP design?

 

[radarig]

No, I meant a standard header with separate CSS files for larger sites like you referenced. It's early, I'm not typing/reading coherently yet.

LP = Landing Pages, for people like me who love abbreviating everything.

 

[Tedel]

Wow... That's a lot. My CSS files are seldom bigger than 3kb.