The Stack Overflow Podcast

Wanna see a CSS magic trick?

12 snips

Jan 30, 2026

Chris Coyier, frontend developer who created CSS-Tricks and co-founded CodePen. He explores the evolution from table layouts to modern CSS, new features like typed custom properties and scroll-driven animations, accessibility considerations like prefers-reduced-motion, and what CodePen 2.0 will bring.

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ANECDOTE

Tables Linger In Email Layouts

Early web layouts often used HTML tables, which worked like spreadsheets for placement.
Chris notes emails still commonly use table layouts due to email client quirks like Outlook.

INSIGHT

CSS Gains Conditional Logic

CSS now includes functions like if() that can return values conditionally for styles.
These enable logic (media queries, style queries, custom-property checks) without JavaScript.

INSIGHT

Typed CSS Variables Unlock New Uses

CSS custom properties (variables) can now be typed so browsers know their units.
Typing lets CSS compare and animate those variables instead of treating them as plain strings.

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