CSS Grid + Bento Grids

A comprehensive guide and demonstration of CSS Grid layout techniques, including responsive design patterns and bento box layouts.

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Project Overview

This project showcases 12 different CSS Grid examples, from basic grid layouts to advanced responsive bento-style designs. It includes interactive demonstrations of grid properties, alignment techniques, and the differences between auto-fill and auto-fit.

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File Explanations

index.html

The HTML file serves as the structure and container for all grid examples. It contains:

Key Components:

1. Meta Tags & Head Section

   • <meta charset="UTF-8"> - Specifies UTF-8 character encoding
   • <meta name="viewport"> - Enables responsive design for mobile devices
   • Links to styles.css for styling

2. 12 Example Sections

   • Example 1: Basic Grid (3 Columns) - Demonstrates a simple 3-column grid with 6 items
   • Example 2: Responsive Grid - Uses auto-fit with minmax() for flexible, responsive layouts
   • Example 3: Spans - Shows how items can span multiple columns and rows using grid-column: span and grid-row: span
   • Example 4: Bento (Named Areas) - Creates a bento-style layout using CSS Grid named template areas
   • Example 5: Bento (12-Column Spans) - Alternative bento approach using a 12-column grid system
   • Example 6: justify-content - Aligns the entire grid horizontally within its container
   • Example 7: justify-items - Aligns items horizontally inside their individual grid cells
   • Example 8: align-content - Aligns the entire grid vertically within its container
   • Example 9: align-items - Aligns items vertically inside their individual grid cells
   • Example 10: place-items - Shorthand property that combines justify-items and align-items
   • Example 11: auto-fill - Creates empty grid tracks even when there are no items to fill them
   • Example 12: auto-fit - Collapses empty grid tracks, allowing items to expand and fill space

3. Semantic Structure

   • Each example is wrapped in <section> tags for semantic HTML
   • .box divs represent grid items with numbered content
   • .grid divs are the grid containers

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styles.css

The CSS file defines all styling and grid layout rules. It contains:

Global Styles:

body {
  font-family: system-ui, Arial, sans-serif;
  margin: 20px;
  max-width: 1000px;
}

• Sets a clean, system font for all text
• Adds margins and constrains max-width for readability

Grid Container Defaults:

.grid {
  display: grid;           /* Activates CSS Grid layout */
  gap: 12px;               /* Space between grid items */
  background-color: aqua;  /* Visual container background */
}

Box (Grid Item) Styling:

.box {
  border: 1px dashed #333;
  padding: 14px;
  background: #f5f5f5;
  display: flex;           /* Flexbox for centering content */
  justify-content: center; /* Horizontal centering */
  align-items: center;     /* Vertical centering */
}

• Creates visual boxes with borders and padding
• Uses flexbox internally to center content

Example-Specific Grid Rules:

1. Basic Grid - grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr) creates 3 equal-width columns

2. Responsive Grid - repeat(auto-fit, minmax(180px, 1fr)) makes columns responsive; minimum 180px, expands to fill space

3. Spans - Uses grid-column: span 2 and grid-row: span 3 to make items larger

4. Bento Areas - grid-template-areas defines named regions like "hero", "notes", "cta", "mini"

5. Bento 12-Column - repeat(12, 1fr) creates a 12-column grid system

6. Alignment Examples - Various properties:

   • justify-content: center - Centers the entire grid
   • justify-items: center - Centers items within cells
   • align-content: center - Centers grid vertically
   • align-items: center - Centers items vertically within cells
   • place-items: center - Combines both

7. auto-fill vs auto-fit

   • auto-fill creates empty tracks with light pink background
   • auto-fit collapses empty tracks with light blue background

Responsive Design:

@media (max-width: 700px) {
  .bento-areas {
    grid-template-columns: 1fr;
    grid-template-areas: "hero" "notes" "cta" "mini";
  }
}

• On mobile (screens ≤ 700px wide), bento layouts stack into single columns

Visual Enhancements:

• .note class adds highlighted note boxes with yellow background
• .comparison-box uses nested grid for side-by-side comparison layout
• Color-coded backgrounds help visualize grid behavior (aqua, pink, light blue)

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Glossary of Terms

Abbreviation	Full Form	Description
CSS	Cascading Style Sheets	Language used for styling web pages and layouts
HTML	HyperText Markup Language	Standard markup language for creating web page structure
1fr	Fraction Unit	A relative unit in CSS Grid representing one fraction of available space
minmax()	Minimum-Maximum Function	CSS Grid function that sets minimum and maximum track sizes
auto-fit	Automatic Fit	CSS Grid property that creates grid tracks and collapses empty ones
auto-fill	Automatic Fill	CSS Grid property that creates grid tracks including empty ones
px	Pixels	Fixed unit of measurement for screen display
gap	Grid Gap	Space between grid items (rows and columns)
grid-column	Grid Column Property	Specifies which column(s) a grid item occupies
grid-row	Grid Row Property	Specifies which row(s) a grid item occupies
grid-area	Grid Area Property	Assigns a grid item to a named template area
grid-template-columns	Grid Template Columns	Defines the number and size of columns in a grid
grid-template-rows	Grid Template Rows	Defines the number and size of rows in a grid
grid-template-areas	Grid Template Areas	Defines named grid regions using ASCII-art layout
repeat()	Repeat Function	CSS function to repeat grid track definitions
justify-content	Justify Content Property	Aligns entire grid horizontally within its container
justify-items	Justify Items Property	Aligns grid items horizontally within their cells
align-content	Align Content Property	Aligns entire grid vertically within its container
align-items	Align Items Property	Aligns grid items vertically within their cells
place-items	Place Items Property	Shorthand combining justify-items and align-items
span	Span Keyword	Keyword to make a grid item occupy multiple tracks
meta	Metadata	Information about the HTML document (charset, viewport, etc.)
semantic	Semantic HTML	HTML that carries meaning about the content (e.g., <section>, <header>)
flexbox	Flexible Box Layout	CSS layout module for flexible, responsive layouts
responsive	Responsive Design	Web design that adapts to different screen sizes
bento	Bento Box Layout	Grid layout style inspired by Japanese bento boxes with varied-sized compartments
media query	Media Query	CSS technique to apply styles based on device characteristics
rgba	Red-Green-Blue-Alpha	Color model with transparency (alpha) channel

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How to Use

1. Open index.html in your web browser
2. Scroll through each example to see CSS Grid in action
3. Inspect elements using browser DevTools (F12 or Right-click → Inspect) to examine:
   • Grid structure and layout properties
   • How items span columns and rows
   • Alignment and spacing behavior
   • Responsive behavior at different screen widths

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Key Learning Points

• Grid vs Flexbox: Grid is 2D (rows and columns), Flexbox is 1D (single direction)
• Responsive Design: Use auto-fit or auto-fill with minmax() for mobile-friendly layouts
• Named Areas: grid-template-areas provides readable, ASCII-art style grid definitions
• Alignment Properties: Different properties align different things (container vs items, horizontal vs vertical)
• Bento Layouts: Combine spans and named areas to create visually interesting, magazine-style designs