Using SCSS maps as object - is it good?

Hi to all!

For my latest project I've preferred to use SCSS maps instead of simple SCSS variables.

For example:

$fontSizes: (
  extraSmall: .75rem,
  small: .9rem,
  normal: 1rem,
  medium: 1.25rem,
  big: 1.5rem,
  extraBig: 2rem
);

So I can get those values around my stylesheets as follow:

font-size: map_get($fontSizes, extraSmall);

I just LOVE this method, I've converted all my SCSS variables (excluding the atomic variables like $globalBorderRadius) into maps, so I can group them into a specific set of scss variables.

What do you think about SCSS maps?
Have you ever used them? If yes, is this a good way to use them?

Let me know! :)

Comments

[Victor F]

And now the next step: convert these into functions:

@function fontsize($key) {
@if not map-has-key($fontSizes, $key) {
@warn "Color `#{$key}` not found.";
}
@return map-get($fontSizes, $key);
}

[Nicola]

That's pretty cool, I think I'll implement in my projects! Thanks a lot!

[Martin]

I understand that it is highly subjective for every developer what feels elegant. If there is any good reason to group variables together the scss map is the right thing to use. But for the example you have posted I would still prefer the simpler font-size: $font-size-extra-small; over font-size: map_get($fontSizes, extraSmall); or font-size: fontsize('extraSmall');

[Aniket Bhalla]

I'm generating classes through scss-maps.
Would there be any performance issues on browser for loading all these classes??

// font-weights
$font-weights: (
"100": 100,
"200": 200,
"300": 300,
"400": 400,
"500": 500,
"600": 600,
"700": 700,
"800": 800,
"900": 900,
);

@each $fw-name, $fw-value in $font-weights {
.fw-#{$fw-name} {
font-weight: $fw-value;
}
}

[Neil Haskins]

Old post, I know.

This font-weight example could be done with a list instead of a map, which would be my preference.

// font-weights
$font-weights: [100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900];

@each $fw in $font-weights {
    .fw-#{$fw} {
        font-weight: $fw;
    }
}

The performance impact should be so negligible it would be hard to even measure.