I Forbid You to Use Margin

[Kurnakov Ilya]

In CSS layout, spacing between elements is often handled with margin. This leads to technical debt: elements become interdependent, complicating maintenance and scalability. Ditch margin—it’s the devil’s music, playing in the depths of hell! Use gap instead. Yes, it requires extra wrappers, but it creates clear, self-contained nodes. The result: clean code, predictable behavior, and less technical debt.

The Problem with Margin: An Antipattern and Technical Debt​

Margin is an outer spacing that affects neighboring elements, breaking the principle of encapsulation. In pattern evaluation, it’s an antipattern: it creates semantic conflicts. For example, a margin-bottom on one element dictates the spacing to the next, but if that neighbor changes (e.g., a class is added or removed), the entire layout can break. This leads to maintenance headaches: developers waste time debugging chain reactions.

Technical debt piles up: in large projects, margin multiplies, creating dependencies. Scaling suffers—refactoring one block can disrupt its neighbors. Margin increases coupling between components. The outcome: fragile code where visual groups don’t reflect semantics, and spacing holds the layout together with brittle connections.

<!-- Example: margin creates dependencies -->
<div class="container">
  <div class="item1" style="margin-bottom: 1rem;">Item 1</div>
  <div class="item2">Item 2</div>
</div>

/* CSS */
.item1 { /* Here, margin affects item2 */ }

Gap: A Breath of Fresh Air​

Gap is an internal spacing within a container, staying within its boundaries. In pattern evaluation, it’s a SOLID approach: elements become independent entities. The container manages spacing between its children, preserving encapsulation. Extra nodes (wrappers) aren’t a downside—they’re a benefit: they define visual and semantic groups, improving readability.

From a technical perspective, gap reduces coupling (elements don’t depend on neighbors). In Flex/Grid, it’s predictable: no margin collapse, no unexpected shifts. Scaling becomes easier—change the container without touching its children. Long-term: fewer bugs, simpler refactoring, and code that feels like modular blocks.

<!-- Example: gap in a container -->
<div class="container">
  <div class="item1">Item 1</div>
  <div class="item2">Item 2</div>
</div>

/* CSS */
.container {
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
  gap: 1rem;
}

Simple Example​

Consider a container with three elements: two are part of one group (buttons), and the third is separate (text). With margin, spacing depends on the elements; with gap, we group them in wrappers.

<!-- No margin: group the buttons -->
<div class="container">
  <div class="buttons-group">
    <button>Button 1</button>
    <button>Button 2</button>
  </div>
  <p>Separate text</p>
</div>

.container {
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
  gap: 1rem; /* Spacing between group and text */
}

.buttons-group {
  display: flex;
  gap: 0.5rem; /* Within the group */
}

Complex Example​

Three nodes: Block A (text + image), Block B (list), and Block C (form). Spacing requirements: 1rem between A and B, 2.5rem between B and C. Margin seems simpler, but it creates dependencies—an antipattern we avoid. A single gap won’t cut it—you need wrappers for groups (not redundancy, but adherence to patterns and structure): combine A+B in a group with a small gap, and keep C separate with a larger one.

<!-- Extra nodes for entities -->
<div class="main-container">
  <div class="group-ab">
    <div class="block-a">
      <p>Text A</p>
      <img src="img.jpg" alt="Image">
    </div>
    <ul class="block-b">
      <li>Item 1</li>
      <li>Item 2</li>
    </ul>
  </div>
  <form class="block-c">
    <input type="text">
    <button>Submit</button>
  </form>
</div>

.main-container {
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
  gap: 2.5rem; /* Between AB and C */
}

.group-ab {
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
  gap: 1rem; /* Between A and B */
}

.block-a, .block-b, .block-c {
  /* Block styles, no margin */
}

Conclusion​

Abandoning margin for spacing isn’t a whim—it’s a strategy for robust code. The margin antipattern breeds conflicts and technical debt, violating SOLID principles in CSS. Gap, on the other hand, builds a hierarchy of cohesive entities: extra nodes are an investment in semantics, simplifying maintenance and scaling. In projects, this reduces time spent on fixes and boosts predictability. A gap-centric approach makes your layout modular, like Lego, free of fragile dependencies.

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