SASS Built-in Modules
This article explains SASS built-in modules.
We cover SASS's built-in modules step by step, from basics to advanced usage.
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SASS Built-in Modules
SASS provides a variety of built-in modules, and using them makes stylesheet authoring even more efficient.
What are SASS's built-in modules?
SASS's built-in modules are modules that provide reusable functions and mixins. Using them makes complex calculations and creating custom styles easier.
The main built-in modules include the following:.
sass:colorsass:stringsass:mathsass:listsass:mapsass:selectorsass:meta
Each module includes features to streamline specific tasks.
Details and examples of each module
The sass:color module
The sass:color module provides functions that make color manipulation easy.
Main functions
mix(): Mix two colorsadjust(): Adjust hue, lightness, saturation, and other properties together
Usage example
1@use "sass:color";
2
3$primary-color: #3498db;
4$secondary-color: #e74c3c;
5
6// Mix two colors with equal weight
7$blended-color: color.mix($primary-color, $secondary-color, 50%);
8
9// Adjust hue by 45 degrees using color.adjust()
10$adjusted-color: color.adjust($primary-color, $hue: 45deg);
11
12div {
13 background-color: $blended-color; // Result of mixing two colors
14 border-color: $adjusted-color; // Hue adjusted by 45 degrees
15}- This code generates a new color by mixing two colors and another color with an adjusted hue. The generated colors are applied to elements as background and border colors. This example helps you understand the basics of color manipulation.
The sass:string module
The sass:string module provides functions useful for string manipulation.
Main functions
quote(),unquote(): Quote or unquote a stringlength(): Get the length of a stringto-upper-case(),to-lower-case(): Convert a string to upper or lower case
Usage example
1@use "sass:string";
2
3// base values
4$base-url: "https://example.com";
5$path: "/assets/style.css";
6
7// 1) Combine strings using interpolation and then quote the result
8$full-quoted: string.quote("#{$base-url}#{$path}");
9// Example result: "\"https://example.com/assets/style.css\""
10
11// 2) Remove quotes from a quoted string
12$full-unquoted: string.unquote($full-quoted);
13// Example result: https://example.com/assets/style.css
14
15// 3) Get the length of the unquoted string
16$url-length: string.length($full-unquoted);
17// Example output: number of characters in the URL
18
19// 4) Convert strings to upper/lower case and quote for safe CSS output
20$block-name: "main-header";
21// "MAIN-HEADER"
22$upper-quoted: string.quote(string.to-upper-case($block-name));
23// "main-footer"
24$lower-quoted: string.quote(string.to-lower-case("MAIN-FOOTER"));
25
26a::after {
27 /* Use quoted strings for content to ensure valid CSS */
28 content: $full-quoted; /* "https://example.com/assets/style.css" */
29}
30
31:root {
32 /* Insert numeric values with interpolation when needed */
33 --url-length: #{ $url-length }; /* Example: --url-length: 31; */
34}
35
36.header::before {
37 /* Output uppercase version */
38 content: $upper-quoted; /* "MAIN-HEADER" */
39}
40
41.footer::after {
42 /* Output lowercase version */
43 content: $lower-quoted; /* "main-footer" */
44}- Using
string.quote()andstring.unquote()lets you precisely control string representations in the output CSS.string.length()is a function that gets the length of a string.string.to-upper-case()/string.to-lower-case()are handy for generating class names and formatting BEM names.
The sass:math module
The sass:math module provides functions for mathematical calculations.
Main functions
pow(): Exponentiationsqrt(): Square rootabs(): Absolute valueround(),ceil(),floor(): Round, round up, round down
Usage example
1@use "sass:math";
2
3// Using pow() to calculate exponential values
4$base-size: math.pow(2, 3) * 10px; // 80px
5
6// Using sqrt() to compute a square root
7$root-size: math.sqrt(144) * 1px; // 12px
8
9// Using abs() to ensure a positive value
10$offset: math.abs(-15px); // 15px
11
12// Using round(), ceil(), and floor() for different rounding methods
13$rounded: math.round(12.6px); // 13px
14$ceiled: math.ceil(12.1px); // 13px
15$floored: math.floor(12.9px); // 12px
16
17.container {
18 width: $base-size; // 80px
19 height: $root-size; // 12px
20 margin-left: $offset; // 15px
21}
22
23.values {
24 /* Demonstrating different rounding operations */
25 padding: $rounded; // 13px
26 border-width: $ceiled; // 13px
27 margin-top: $floored; // 12px
28}math.pow()andmath.sqrt()are useful for size calculations, whilemath.abs()and the rounding functions help handle adjustments. Combining these makes it easy to compute consistent UI scales.
The sass:list module
The sass:list module provides functions specialized for list operations.
Main functions
append(): Add elementsjoin(): Join listsnth(): Get the element at a given positionlength(): Get the length of a list
Usage example
1@use "sass:list";
2
3// Base list
4$colors: ("red", "blue", "green");
5
6// Add an element to the end of the list
7$colors-appended: list.append($colors, "yellow");
8// ("red", "blue", "green", "yellow")
9
10// Add an element to the beginning of the list using join()
11$colors-prepended: list.join(("black",), $colors);
12// ("black", "red", "blue", "green", "yellow")
13
14// Join two lists together
15$extra-colors: ("pink", "cyan");
16$merged-colors: list.join($colors-prepended, $extra-colors);
17// ("black", "red", "blue", "green", "yellow", "pink", "cyan")
18
19// Get list length
20$total-length: list.length($merged-colors);
21
22// Example usage in a loop: assign each color to a list item
23ul {
24 @for $i from 1 through $total-length {
25 li:nth-child(#{$i}) {
26 /* Get the color at index $i */
27 color: list.nth($merged-colors, $i);
28 }
29 }
30}- You can add elements to the end of a list with
append(), and usejoin()to flexibly combine multiple lists. If you want to add an element to the beginning, you can do so by joining a single-element list to the front usingjoin(). By combininglength()andnth(), it becomes easier to generate UI styles that require dynamic list processing.
The sass:map module
The sass:map module provides functions to work with maps (associative arrays).
Main functions
get(): Get the value for a keyset(): Add or update a key-value pairkeys(): Get all keys
Usage example
1@use "sass:map";
2
3// Base theme map
4$theme-colors: (
5 "primary": #3498db,
6 "secondary": #e74c3c
7);
8
9// Update or add a value using set()
10$updated-theme: map.set($theme-colors, "warning", #f1c40f);
11// Map now has "warning": #f1c40f added
12
13// Get a value from the map
14$primary-color: map.get($updated-theme, "primary");
15
16// Get all keys from the map
17$all-keys: map.keys($updated-theme);
18// Example: ("primary", "secondary", "warning")
19
20button {
21 /* Apply color retrieved from the theme map */
22 background-color: $primary-color;
23}
24
25.debug {
26 /* Print keys as content for demonstration */
27 content: "#{$all-keys}";
28}- Using
map.set()lets you update maps dynamically, and combined withmap.get()you can build flexible theme structures. Withmap.keys()you can list configuration entries, which helps in designing extensible styles.
The sass:selector module
The sass:selector module provides functions helpful for selector manipulation.
Main functions
nest(): Nest selectorsis-superselector(): Check selector containmentreplace(): Replace selectors
Usage example
1@use "sass:selector";
2
3// Nest selectors (combine parent and child)
4$nested-selector: selector.nest(".parent", ".child");
5// Result: ".parent .child"
6
7// Check if one selector is a superselector of another
8$is-super: selector.is-superselector(".parent", $nested-selector);
9// true because ".parent" matches all elements that
10// ".parent .child" can match as an ancestor
11
12// Replace part of a selector with another selector
13$replaced-selector: selector.replace(".parent .child", ".child", ".item");
14// Result: ".parent .item"
15
16// Use generated selectors in actual CSS output
17#{$nested-selector} {
18 /* Applies to .parent .child */
19 color: red;
20}
21
22@if $is-super {
23 .info::after {
24 /* Demonstrate boolean result */
25 content: "parent is a superselector";
26 }
27}
28
29#{$replaced-selector} {
30 /* Applies to .parent .item */
31 background: blue;
32}- Use
selector.nest()to flexibly compose selectors andselector.is-superselector()to verify their relationships. Combine withselector.replace()to handle advanced selector-generation logic succinctly.
The sass:meta module
The sass:meta module provides features useful for meta-programming in SASS.
Main functions
variable-exists(): Check if a variable existsglobal-variable-exists(): Check if a global variable existsinspect(): Display a value for debugging
Usage example
1@use "sass:meta";
2
3// Define a global variable
4$color: #3498db;
5
6// Check if a variable exists in the current scope
7@if meta.variable-exists("color") {
8 body {
9 /* Apply style only if $color exists */
10 background-color: $color;
11 }
12}
13
14// Create a local variable inside a block
15.container {
16 $local-size: 20px;
17
18 @if meta.variable-exists("local-size") {
19 /* Demonstrates detection of local variable */
20 width: $local-size;
21 }
22}
23
24// Check if a global variable exists
25$result: meta.global-variable-exists("color"); // true
26
27.debug {
28 /* Use inspect() to output the inspected value as a string */
29 content: meta.inspect($result); // "true"
30}meta.variable-exists()andmeta.global-variable-exists()let you safely determine variable states per scope.meta.inspect()is very useful for debugging and can display values as strings.
Practical example
Combining multiple built-in modules further enhances SASS's expressiveness. Below is an example that uses the color, math, and list modules together to automate color processing and list operations.
1@use "sass:color";
2@use "sass:math";
3@use "sass:list";
4
5// Base color list
6$base-colors: (#3498db, #e74c3c, #2ecc71);
7$darkened-colors: (); // Empty list for processed colors
8
9// Loop through each base color and darken it by 10%
10@each $color in $base-colors {
11 $darkened-colors: list.append(
12 $darkened-colors,
13 // Darken color by decreasing lightness by 10%
14 color.adjust($color, $lightness: -10%)
15 );
16}
17
18div {
19 // Apply each processed color to a corresponding <div>
20 @for $i from 1 through list.length($darkened-colors) {
21 &:nth-child(#{$i}) {
22 // Set color by index
23 background-color: list.nth($darkened-colors, $i);
24 }
25 }
26}- In this code, processed colors are appended sequentially with
list.append(), andcolor.adjust()with$lightness: -10%is used to darken the colors by 10%. Finally,@foris combined withlist.nth()to apply different background colors to each<div>.
Summary
SASS's built-in modules greatly increase CSS flexibility. By understanding each module and using them appropriately, you can create more efficient, maintainable stylesheets.
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