What Does Responsive Web Design Mean?

As a front-end developer, you should be aware of how crucial responsive web design is during the development process of different applications. Many websites in the past could only render to all computer screens, not other evolving devices such as phones, tablets, etc.  

What is Responsive Web Design?

In modern-day web development, a web page must be able to adapt to the different screen sizes of various devices. The essence of Responsive Web Design (RWD) is a strategy that ensures that the web content is perfectly rendered to various gadgets without losing its layout on the screens. 

Why RWD?

• Responsive Design helps to design for different devices. There is a rise of people using mobile devices to access the internet more than desktop users.  
• However, some companies have two sites: the desktop version and the mobile-friendly version. The costs of maintaining the two applications are reduced thanks to responsive Design.
• Many companies opt for responsive Design because it is time-consuming, especially in development and maintenance. Maintenance also involves timely updates to keep the site in shape with the latest technology.
• Moreover, RWD enhances user experiences by keeping the website engaging through sharing and liking page content. By making it user-friendly, it ultimately draws in a large number of people.

To fit the user's screen, responsive Design ensures layout and adapts the page's content navigation and elements. In addition, the responsive design will adjust every design element when viewed on various devices.

Implementing Responsive Web Design

The best practices mentioned below are some approaches to implementing responsive Design.

1. Media Queries

A crucial component of responsive web design is media queries, which let you design alternative layouts based on the viewport's size. They determine how content is rendered and support adaptation to different conditions, such as screen resolution or size.

A media query is a CSS3 technique that lets websites change their layout to fit different screen sizes and media types.

Media Querry Rule:

@media () {

  // CSS rules

}

Different Breakpoints for devices include.

1. Extra small devices (e.g., phones)

@media only screen and (max-width: 600px) {...}

2. Small devices (e.g., tablets 600px and up)

@media only screen and (min-width: 600px) {...}

3. Medium devices (e.g., Landscape tablets, 768px and up)

@media only screen and (min-width: 768px) {...}

4. Large devices (laptops/desktops, 992px and up)

@media only screen and (min-width: 992px) {...}

5. Extra large devices (large laptops and desktops, 1200px and up)

@media only screen and (min-width: 1200px) {...}

Media queries check the following:

• Width and height of the viewport
• Width and height of the device
• Orientation (is the tablet/phone in landscape or portrait mode?)
• Resolution

For example,

1. The code below hides an element with a predefined width of the device.

@media screen and (max-width: 600px) {

  div.example {

    display: none;

  }

}

In other words, the element will display the screen width as 600px and beyond.

2. Font sizes on different screen sizes.

@media (min-width: 640px) { body {font-size:1rem;} }

@media (min-width:960px) { body {font-size:1.2rem;} }

@media (min-width:1100px) { body {font-size:1.5rem;} }

On the other hand, multiple fixed layouts are generated and modified to the respective user's screen size through adaptive Design.

2. Fluid Layouts

A fluid grid layout can create different formats corresponding to the devices on which the website is displayed. Fluid web design elements can respond to or adjust based on the user's device screen resolution and have defined percentage widths.

3. Flexible layouts

Using a flexible grid in CSS, layouts are a great approach to building responsive web pages.

In addition, a flexible container allows items to either expand to fill space or contract to prevent overflow.

The flex container properties are:

• flex-direction
• flex-wrap
• flex-flow
• justify-content
• align-items
• align-content

Here's a code:

.items {

  display: flex;

  justify-content: space-between;

}

4. Responsive Images

You know that developing a website might be easier with including an image. However, you must ensure that images can adapt to various device screens and respond to them without losing quality.

In some cases, an image will be responsive and scale up and down if the width property is set to a % and the height property is set to "auto."

Here's the sample code:

img {

  width: 100%;

  height: auto;

}

The srcset attribute

Using the srcset attribute saves the developers much time in specifying image resources.

<img srcset="large-img.jpg 1024w,

middle-img.jpg 640w,

small-img.jpg 320w"

src= "small.jpg"

/>

The srcset attribute is needed and defines the source of the image.