[From: "Overview: XML, HTML, and all that", by Jon Bosak, Sun Microsystems. Presented on April 11, 1997.]
Limitations of CSS in complex applications
- CSS cannot grab an item (such as a chapter title) from one place
and use it again in another place (such as a page header).
- CSS has no concept of sibling relationships. For example, it is
impossible to write a CSS stylesheet that will render every other
paragraph in bold.
- CSS is not a programming language; it does not support decision
structures and cannot be extended by the stylesheet designer.
- CSS cannot calculate quantities or store variables. This means,
at the very least, that it cannot store commonly used parameters in
one location that is easy to update.
- CSS cannot generate text (page numbers, etc.)
- CSS uses a simple box-oriented formatting model that works for
current Web browsers but will not extend to more advanced applications
of the markup, such as multiple column sets.
- CSS is oriented toward Western languages and assumes a horizontal
writing direction.