50 CSS Properties in 1996, Ten Times That Today, Wired Says

CSS's original specification listed roughly 50 properties when it launched in 1996, and the language now contains about ten times that number, according to a Wired essay by Pete Millspaugh arguing that CSS deserves recognition as more than a decorative afterthought in web development.

How much has CSS grown since 1996?

The cascading style sheet language was created by Norwegian computer scientist Håkon Wium Lie, Millspaugh writes, and its early spec covered basics such as "color" and "font-size." Three decades later, the property list has expanded roughly tenfold to include entries like "hanging-punctuation," per the essay. Millspaugh contrasts Lie's low public profile with the well-known origin story of JavaScript creator Brendan Eich, suggesting name recognition has shaped which languages get taken seriously.

Is CSS a 'real' programming language?

Critics note that CSS has no compile step, does not throw runtime errors, and is not Turing complete, Millspaugh writes, adding that some also argue it is a domain-specific style-sheet language rather than a general-purpose one. He counters that ease of entry is being confused with lack of depth, quoting programmer-writer Jeremy Keith's observation that CSS is simple to start but not necessarily easy to master.

What complex projects have been built entirely in CSS?

Millspaugh cites programmers who have recreated the video game Doom in CSS and built holographic Pokémon cards and 3D-rendering engines using the language. Programmer Cassidy Williams built an experimental database-query engine entirely in CSS for this year's inaugural March MadCSS tournament, per the essay, and demoed it at Microsoft Build — where, Millspaugh writes, emcees told her, "You're one of the people that likes it. You might be the only one."

Why does Wired frame the CSS debate as a gender issue?

Millspaugh argues CSS carries a reputation as "feminine" work because it governs the frontend — the visible part of a site — while backend work is treated as more technical. He cites a recycled joke describing a CSS developer as "a freak in the style sheets" and writes that how seriously a language is regarded affects programmer salaries, the skills tested in job interviews, and how accessible sites are built for people with disabilities. Millspaugh also describes discussing the divide with a friend who works as a backend engineer, though the essay's excerpt does not detail how that conversation concluded.

CSS milestones cited in the essay

• 1996: Håkon Wium Lie's original CSS specification includes about 50 properties, according to Wired.
• 2026: Cassidy Williams builds a CSS-based database query engine, entering it in the first March MadCSS tournament and demoing it at Microsoft Build, per the essay.

What to watch

• Whether more CSS-only builds — games, rendering engines, query tools — get showcased at developer conferences.
• Whether the CSS specification keeps expanding beyond its current property count.
• Whether events like March MadCSS continue to reignite debate over CSS's classification as a programming language.

The full essay is available at Wired.