Article revealing origins of CSS should at least mention that one of its (at least initial) primary goals was to set that "entirely different academic yet simple presentation language" in a way it would allow dialogue among at least three agents expressing their visual preferences. This mechanism, cascade - the the "C" in "CSS" - is that mechanism that sets rules how different preferences should be merged together and conflicting resolved in final visual presentation of documents.
Simply said, that what style sheets communicates are mere suggestions for appearance: browser has its "default" style sheet, users can set their own set of rules, author sets their, but user and browser still have control what author can and cannot change.
I see this "origin specificity" as very important fundament that explains a lot about the way CSS emerged and evolved. This bit of information, however "obsolete" it may feel nowadays in age of web applications (but not obsolete standards-wise), is perhaps too obvious to most professionals, yet I see it omitted from learning materials, or dug very deep in them.
(Sorry for repeating myself here at HN, and sorry if I overlooked it in the article, I admit I've just skimmed it searching for this exact piece of information.)
Simply said, that what style sheets communicates are mere suggestions for appearance: browser has its "default" style sheet, users can set their own set of rules, author sets their, but user and browser still have control what author can and cannot change.
I see this "origin specificity" as very important fundament that explains a lot about the way CSS emerged and evolved. This bit of information, however "obsolete" it may feel nowadays in age of web applications (but not obsolete standards-wise), is perhaps too obvious to most professionals, yet I see it omitted from learning materials, or dug very deep in them.
(Sorry for repeating myself here at HN, and sorry if I overlooked it in the article, I admit I've just skimmed it searching for this exact piece of information.)