CSS jargon explained: the specificity graph

One of ITCSS's fundamental principles is the Specificity
Graph. This is another model that visualises your CSS project's specificity on a simple line graph. Its shape will tell you how well your project meets the low-to-high specificity metric.

The Specificity Graph represents your entire project – all your CSS, once compiled and on the user's machine. Along the X-axis we plot the location of a selector in the CSS (e.g. line 1229), and on the Y-axis we plot the specificity of that selector (e.g. one class).

What we want to see is a graph that trends upwards – a CSS project whose specificity is gradually increasing as we get further into it.

We do not want a very spiky graph, as this shows us we have a lot of higher specificity selectors defined before lower specificity ones – this is how we get into the Specificity Wars.

Whilst it is possible to accurately plot this information, the graph's value is in being a mental model. You can determine the rough shape of your project's Specificity Graph at a glance.

Specifity graph

Best case: In this healthy Specificity Graph, everything trends upwards

Specificity graph

Worst case: A poor Specificity Graph, in which specificities are mixed up drastically

Words: Harry Roberts

Harry Roberts is a consultant frontend architect and CSS architecture expert. Find him on twitter @csswizardry or visit his site csswizardry.com. This article was originally published in net magazine issue 267.

Liked this? Read these!

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

The Creative Bloq team is made up of a group of design fans, and has changed and evolved since Creative Bloq began back in 2012. The current website team consists of seven full-time members of staff: Editor Georgia Coggan, Deputy Editor Rosie Hilder, Deals Editor Beren Neale, Senior News Editor Daniel Piper, Digital Arts and Design Editor Ian Dean, Tech Reviews Editor Erlingur Einarsson and Ecommerce Writer Abi Le Guilcher, as well as a roster of freelancers from around the world. The 3D World and ImagineFX magazine teams also pitch in, ensuring that content from 3D World and ImagineFX is represented on Creative Bloq.