Code bloat. What is it?

paperwhite13 · 02-07-2024, 03:01 AM

There was a stringent need for this topic, and now it exists.

JSWolf · 02-07-2024, 04:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paperwhite13

There was a stringent need for this topic, and now it exists.

Code bloat is extra code that doesn't need to exist in your eBook be it in the CSS or the HTML.

Here is an example of code bloat.
CSS
[code]p {
font-size: 1em;
text-align: justify;
text-indent: 1.2em;
}[quote]

The font-size and text-align do not need to exist. 1em is the default font size and a text-align of justify only needs to be in <body>.

Also, when you look at the CSS of most retail eBooks, you can have many CSS classes that do not do anything. That is code bloat.

paperwhite13 · 02-07-2024, 04:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

text-indent: 1.2em;

Do you mean it doesn’t need to exist at all or should it be placed elsewhere?

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Also, when you look at the CSS of most retail eBooks, you can have many CSS classes that do not do anything. That is code bloat.

Do you have an example? (Not the code, but an actual, newer title from a major publisher, so we can look it up and inspect it ourselves.)

JSWolf · 02-07-2024, 05:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paperwhite13

Do you mean it doesn’t need to exist at all or should it be placed elsewhere?

The text-indent is the only code that's to be kept.

Quote:

Do you have an example? (Not the code, but an actual, newer title from a major publisher, so we can look it up and inspect it ourselves.)

As you can see, there is a lot of code bloat in the original CSS.

Here is the original CSS

Code:

img#cover_image:only-of-type { /*overrides the previous setting, but only in newer systems that support CSS3 */
    height: 99vh;
}
body.cover {
	margin-top: 0px;
	margin-left: 0px;
	margin-right: 0px;
	margin-bottom: 0px;
	text-align: center;
	background-color:#000000;
}
a{
	text-decoration: underline;
	display: inline;
}
div.cover {
	text-align: center;
}
/* added styles by EK*/
li {
	list-style-type:none;
}
p.TNI {
	font-size:0.92em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:0em;
	margin-left:0em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:0em;
	text-align:justify;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}
p.LINESPACE {
	font-weight: normal;
	font-style: normal;
	font-size: 100%;
}
li.TOC {
	font-size:0.92em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:0em;
	margin-left:0em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:0em;
	text-align:center;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}
figure.IMG {
	display: block;
	margin-bottom: 1em;
	margin-top: 1em;
	text-indent: 0em;
	margin-right: 0em;
	margin-left: 0em;
	text-align: center;
}
img.img90 {
	width:90%;
}
img.img40 {
	width:40%;
}
body {
	line-height: 1.25;
}
p.ACH {
	font-size:1.333em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:1em;
	margin-left:0em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:5em;
	text-align:center;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}
p.ACL {
	font-size:0.833em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:0em;
	margin-left:0em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:0em;
	text-align:center;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}

p.ACL2 {
	font-size:0.833em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:0.8em;
	margin-left:0em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:0em;
	text-align:center;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}
p.ACUL {
	font-size:0.75em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:0.50em;
	margin-left:0em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:0em;
	text-align:center;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}

h1.CN {
	font-size:1.8em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:2em;
	margin-left:0em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:5em;
	text-align:center;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}
p.CO {
	font-size:0.917em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:0em;
	margin-left:0em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:120px;
	text-align:justify;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}
p.COMP {
	font-size:0.833em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:0em;
	margin-left:2.4em;
	margin-right:2.4em;
	margin-top:0em;
	text-align:left;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0.6em;
}
p.COMPF {
	font-size:0.833em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:0em;
	margin-left:2.4em;
	margin-right:2.4em;
	margin-top:16px;
	text-align:left;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0.6em;
}
p.COMPL {
	font-size:0.833em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:16px;
	margin-left:2.4em;
	margin-right:2.4em;
	margin-top:0em;
	text-align:left;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0.6em;
}
p.CRT {
	font-size:0.75em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:0em;
	margin-left:0em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:1em;
	text-align:center;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}
p.CUST {
	font-size:1.167em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:1em;
	margin-left:0em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:1em;
	text-align:center;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}
p.CUSTF {
	font-size:1.167em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:0em;
	margin-left:1.2em;
	margin-right:1.2em;
	margin-top:16px;
	text-align:center;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}
p.CUSTL {
	font-size:1.167em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:16px;
	margin-left:1.2em;
	margin-right:1.2em;
	margin-top:0em;
	text-align:center;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}
p.DISP {
	font-size:0.917em;
	font-style:italic;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:16px;
	margin-left:1.2em;
	margin-right:1.2em;
	margin-top:16px;
	text-align:left;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}
p.EPI {
	font-size:0.833em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:0em;
	margin-left:0em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:0em;
	text-align:center;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}
p.EPIF {
	font-size:0.917em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:0em;
	margin-left:0em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:7em;
	text-align:center;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}
p.EPISC {
	font-size:0.75em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:0em;
	margin-left:0em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:0em;
	text-align:center;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}
p.EX1 {
	font-family:serif;
	font-size:0.917em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:16px;
	margin-left:2.4em;
	margin-right:2.4em;
	margin-top:16px;
	text-align:center;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}
p.SB1 {
	font-size:0.917em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:0em;
	margin-left:0em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:0em;
	text-align:justify;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}
p.TMG {
	font-size:0.917em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:8px;
	margin-left:2.4em;
	margin-right:2.4em;
	margin-top:8px;
	text-align:left;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}
p.TMGF {
	font-size:0.917em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:8px;
	margin-left:2.4em;
	margin-right:2.4em;
	margin-top:8px;
	text-align:left;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}
p.TMGL {
	font-size:0.917em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:8px;
	margin-left:3.6em;
	margin-right:3.6em;
	margin-top:8px;
	text-align:left;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}
p.TX {
	font-size:0.917em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:0em;
	margin-left:0em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:0em;
	text-align:justify;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:1.2em;
}
span.eSANS_Arial_MT_Std_Regular_11 {
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
}
span.eSANS_Bernhard_Modern_Std_Roman_11 {
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
}
span.eSANS_Helvetica_Neue_LT_Std_55_Roman_SC_11 {
	font-family:serif;
	font-size:85%;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
}
p.ATA {
	font-size:0.917em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:0em;
	margin-left:0em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:0em;
	text-align:justify;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}
h1.ATAH {
	font-size:1.5em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:2em;
	margin-left:0em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:5em;
	text-align:center;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}
ul {
    padding-left: 0em;
    margin-left: 0em;
}
small {
    font-size: 85%;
}
blockquote {
    margin: 0em 0em 0em 0em;
}
sup {
    vertical-align: super;
    font-size: 0.65em;
    vertical-align: 35%;
}
sub {
    vertical-align: sub;
    font-size: 0.65em;
    vertical-align: -21%;
}
ol.toc {
    padding-top : 0em;
    padding-right: 0em;
    padding-bottom : 0em;
    padding-left : 0em;
    margin-top : 0em;
    margin-right : 0em;
    margin-bottom : 0em;
    margin-left : 0em;
    list-style-type : none;
}
hr.transition {
	background: url('../images/asterisks.jpg') no-repeat center;
	height: 1em;
	border: none;
	margin: 1em 0em 0.5em 0em;
}
ol.none
{
	list-style-type:none;
}

li.TOC-BOT {
	font-size:0.92em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:1em;
	margin-left:0em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:0em;
	text-align:center;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}

h1.FMH {
	font-size:1.5em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:2em;
	margin-left:0em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:5em;
	text-align:center;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}

p.ASCH {
	font-size:1.333em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:1em;
	margin-left:0em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:2em;
	text-align:center;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}

p.CRT-TOP {
	font-size:0.75em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:0em;
	margin-left:0em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:5em;
	text-align:center;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}

p.CRT1 {
	font-size:0.75em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:0em;
	margin-left:2em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:0em;
	text-align:left;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:-1em;
}

p.CRT11 {
	font-size:0.75em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:0em;
	margin-left:2em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:1em;
	text-align:left;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:-1em;
}

p.EPIFS {
	font-size:0.917em;
	font-style:normal;
	font-weight:normal;
	margin-bottom:0em;
	margin-left:0em;
	margin-right:0em;
	margin-top:1em;
	text-align:center;
	text-decoration:none;
	text-indent:0em;
}


p.fut_tit {
	display: block;
	text-align: center;
	text-indent: 0em;
	margin-top: 0em;
	margin-bottom: 0em;
	margin-left: 0em;
	margin-right: 0em;
}
p.fut_toc {
	font-weight: normal;
	font-style: normal;
	font-size: 0.90em;
	text-decoration: none;
	font-variant: normal;
	text-indent: 0em;
	text-align: center;
	margin: 0em 0em 0em 0em;
}
p.fut_toc1 {
	font-weight: normal;
	font-style: normal;
	font-size: 0.90em;
	text-decoration: none;
	font-variant: normal;
	text-indent: 0em;
	text-align: center;
	margin: 0em 0em 1.50em 0em;
}
p.fut_logo {
	font-weight: normal;
	font-style: normal;
	font-size: 1.31em;
	text-decoration: none;
	font-variant: normal;
	text-indent: 0em;
	text-align: center;
	margin: 1.20em 0em 1.20em 0em;
}


img.epub {
	display: inline;
	width: 7em;
}
img.epub1 {
	display: inline;
	width: 2.35em;
}

img.sign-up {
	display: none;
}
img.fb {
	display: none;
}
@media amzn-kf8 {
	img.epub {
		display: none;
	}
img.epub1 {
	display: none;
}
	img.sign-up {
		width: 3.5em;
		display: inline;
	}
	img.fb {
		width: 1em;
		display: inline;
	}
}
@media amzn-mobi {
	img.epub {
		display: none;
	}

img.epub1 {
	display: none;
}
	img.sign-up {
		width: 3.5em;
		display: inline;
	}
	img.fb {
		width: 1em;
		display: inline;
	}
	sup {
		vertical-align: super;
		font-size: 0.65em;
	}
	sub {
		vertical-align: sub;
		font-size: 0.65em;
	}
}

Here is the edited CSS

Code:

blockquote {
  margin-top: 0.8em;
  margin-right: 1.5em;
  margin-bottom: 0.8em;
  margin-left: 1.5em;
}
body {
  widows: 1;
  orphans: 1;
  margin-top: 0;
  margin-right: 0;
  margin-bottom: 0;
  margin-left: 0;
  text-align: justify;
}
h2, .IMG {
  text-align: center;
  text-indent: 0;
  margin-top: 0.8em;
  margin-bottom: 0.8em;
}
hr {
  margin-top: 0.9em;
  margin-right: 40%;
  margin-bottom: 0.9em;
  margin-left: 40%;
  border-top: 2px solid;
}
img {
  max-height: 100%;
  max-width: 100%;
}
p {
  margin-top: 0;
  margin-bottom: 0;
  widows: 1;
  orphans: 1;
  text-indent: 1.2em;
}
.cover {
  text-align: center;
  text-indent: 0;
  height: 100%;
}
.smaller {
  font-size: 85%;
}
.TMG, .TMGL {
  font-family: sans-serif;
  margin-bottom: 8px;
  margin-top: 8px;
  text-indent: 0;
}
img.epub1 {
  display: inline;
  width: 2.35em;
}
img.fb {
  display: none;
}
img.img40 {
  width: 40%;
}
p.CO {
  text-indent: 0;
}
p.COMP {
  text-indent: 0.6em;
}
p.CRT {
  font-size: small;
  margin-top: 0.8em;
  text-align: center;
  text-indent: 0;
}
p.CRT1 {
  font-size: small;
  margin-left: 2em;
  text-indent: -1em;
}
p.CRT11 {
  font-size: small;
  margin-left: 2em;
  margin-top: 0.8em;
  text-indent: -1em;
}
p.CUST {
  font-size: 1.167em;
  text-align: center;
  text-indent: 0;
}
p.DISP {
  font-style: italic;
  text-indent: 0;
}
p.EPI {
  font-size: small;
  text-align: center;
  text-indent: 0;
}
p.EPIF {
  margin-top: 3em;
  text-align: center;
  text-indent: 0;
}
p.EPIFS {
  margin-top: 1em;
  text-align: center;
  text-indent: 0;
}
p.EPISC {
  font-size: 0.8333em;
  text-align: center;
  text-indent: 0;
}
p.EX1 {
  text-align: center;
  text-indent: 0;
}
p.fut_logo {
  text-indent: 0;
  text-align: center;
  margin-top: 0.8em;
}

paperwhite13 · 02-07-2024, 06:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The text-indent is the only code that's to be kept.

As you can see, there is a lot of code bloat in the original CSS.

What book is that from? What year was it published?

JSWolf · 02-07-2024, 06:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paperwhite13

What book is that from? What year was it published?

That is from Random in Death by J.D. Robb. It was released at the end of January 2024

I've seen eBooks where there are over 100 excess classes not used in the CSS.

paperwhite13 · 02-07-2024, 08:19 AM

Got it, thank you. I see what you mean, but a lot of it is code bloat only if I put on my OCD hat (and I do have one). You even deleted comments

In my other, non-OCD book code bloat is:

- code that slows down reading/loading in any perceptible, meaningful, quantifiable way;

- code that affects compatibility.

A lot of those are redundant, but does deleting/collapsing them have any meaningful impact? (And I don’t mean style-wise). Since they were most likely spit out automatically by InDesign, any time spent deleting comments for instance is production time bloat. I will always succumb to my OCD tendencies, but I don’t think anyone else who doesn’t is doing something wrong, unless the user experience is actually affected.

JSWolf · 02-07-2024, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paperwhite13

Got it, thank you. I see what you mean, but a lot of it is code bloat only if I put on my OCD hat (and I do have one). You even deleted comments

In my other, non-OCD book code bloat is:

- code that slows down reading/loading in any perceptible, meaningful, quantifiable way;

- code that affects compatibility.

A lot of those are redundant, but does deleting/collapsing them have any meaningful impact? (And I don’t mean style-wise). Since they were most likely spit out automatically by InDesign, any time spent deleting comments for instance is production time bloat. I will always succumb to my OCD tendencies, but I don’t think anyone else who doesn’t is doing something wrong, unless the user experience is actually affected.

I've yet to see CSS comments that are actually worth keeping. They aren't useful.

You definition of code bloat is not code bloat. It's bad code. Code Bloat is any code that's not needed to get the results you want. If the code is not needed. Empty <div>, <span> or <a> to show you where some pBook version page number is, a <div> to put space at the top of a chapter, ID's that don't do anything are all code bloat.

Even <p class="idontactuallyneedtobehere"> can be considered code bloat as all you need is <p>. But that's an ongoing debate. I think it's code bloat.

paperwhite13 · 02-07-2024, 09:04 AM

Quote:

In computer programming, code bloat is the production of program code (source code or machine code) that is perceived as unnecessarily long, slow, or otherwise wasteful of resources

Your changes, besides recovering the tiny space occupied by the comments and other redundant declarations, do they speed up in any perceptible way navigation? Besides getting a different presentation that you find agreeable, what do you get from spending so much time tinkering with the CSS?

JSWolf · 02-07-2024, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paperwhite13

Your changes, besides recovering the tiny space occupied by the comments and other redundant declarations, do they speed up in any perceptible way navigation? Besides getting a different presentation that you find agreeable, what do you get from spending so much time tinkering with the CSS?

In the editor it's very easy to remove the excess CSS. Then I sort the CSS. I remove any other CSS that I am going to be replacing. I then put in my CSS.

It doesn't take long to edit the code. Diap's Editing Toolbag, and S/R all help make it pretty quick. Editing the CSS is not difficult. That's actually pretty easy.

The rest depends on the HTML code. But again, not difficult.

paperwhite13 · 02-07-2024, 09:54 AM

I get that the code is better-looking, like I said, I find that appealing

But does the epub load and/or navigate faster?

j.p.s · 02-07-2024, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

text-align of justify only needs to be in <body>.

It doesn't belong in <body> either. That should be left to user preference.

KevinH · 02-07-2024, 10:31 AM

The answer is no, there is no appreciable code loading or execution differences 99% of the time.

And an epub publisher who uses a standard css across a number of books, is much more likely to make fewer errors of omission or design, thus improving quality.

JSWolf has simply overstated/over claimed things as usual. He makes unneeded changes for no valid reason other than he thinks it should be so and gets irrationally upset when explained otherwise.

Making code simpler when possible is always a good thing, but simplifying classes when css inheritance is in effect (and with some css injected by the reader) itself is fraught with errors and really is not a good idea.

Removing unused id attributes is another one of those short sighted mistakes people make as external cfi references by scholars and others into locations inside the epub, page boundaries, and etc are often lost or destroyed.

And as a practical rule, anything that does not significantly impact loading or execution speed should generally be left alone is probably a good idea.

What JSWolf does with his own books is up to him, but advocating his views to everyone else as a "law" is not. Simpler is better until it is not. Be careful making changes not fully understood. Adding or removing default css from a class can and does impact inheritance and can cause errors when reader injected css exists that needs to be overridden, etc.

Quoth · 02-07-2024, 11:04 AM

I did see one code bloat ebook recently. It had different spans that did not seem to do anything on every word!
Looked the same after removal (I was working on a copy too) and size changed from 2.5M to 0.6M, but that's very rare. Also I'm not sure it made discernable difference to reading the ebook. There were messed up chapter and section (Book 1 to Book 5) headings visible, which is why I opened and edited the ebook.

I forget the title, but I think it was from a small publisher and other titles from them were fine.

I do remove the penguins in chapter headings and some other pointless stuff from some books from the house of random penguins. It makes little difference to size or performance.

In general, real reflowable ebooks do not have code bloat of some programs, or some PDFs or some fixed layout electronic books (some are epub3 and some are really PDFs in an Amazon wrapper).

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinH

The answer is no, there is no appreciable code loading or execution differences 99% of the time.

On this occasion I'd agree with all KevinH is writing.

Quote:

Simpler is better until it is not. Be careful making changes not fully understood.

Absolutely.

JSWolf · 02-07-2024, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j.p.s

It doesn't belong in <body> either. That should be left to user preference.

Text-align: justify;. It does belong in the <body>. It makes the eBook justified. Software that does not allow the alignment to be changed, it will be justified. Software that does allow the alignment to be changed, it will work. It works with my Libra 2 to change the alignment. But it can only be in <body> or it won't work.

02-07-2024, 03:01 AM	#1
paperwhite13 Zealot Posts: 129 Karma: 9236 Join Date: Jun 2020 Device: Kindle PW3 [KOReader]	Code bloat. What is it? There was a stringent need for this topic, and now it exists.

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02-07-2024, 08:19 AM	#7
paperwhite13 Zealot Posts: 129 Karma: 9236 Join Date: Jun 2020 Device: Kindle PW3 [KOReader]	Got it, thank you. I see what you mean, but a lot of it is code bloat only if I put on my OCD hat (and I do have one). You even deleted comments In my other, non-OCD book code bloat is: - code that slows down reading/loading in any perceptible, meaningful, quantifiable way; - code that affects compatibility. A lot of those are redundant, but does deleting/collapsing them have any meaningful impact? (And I don’t mean style-wise). Since they were most likely spit out automatically by InDesign, any time spent deleting comments for instance is production time bloat. I will always succumb to my OCD tendencies, but I don’t think anyone else who doesn’t is doing something wrong, unless the user experience is actually affected.

02-07-2024, 09:54 AM	#11
paperwhite13 Zealot Posts: 129 Karma: 9236 Join Date: Jun 2020 Device: Kindle PW3 [KOReader]	I get that the code is better-looking, like I said, I find that appealing But does the epub load and/or navigate faster?

02-07-2024, 10:31 AM	#13
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 7,645 Karma: 5433388 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	The answer is no, there is no appreciable code loading or execution differences 99% of the time. And an epub publisher who uses a standard css across a number of books, is much more likely to make fewer errors of omission or design, thus improving quality. JSWolf has simply overstated/over claimed things as usual. He makes unneeded changes for no valid reason other than he thinks it should be so and gets irrationally upset when explained otherwise. Making code simpler when possible is always a good thing, but simplifying classes when css inheritance is in effect (and with some css injected by the reader) itself is fraught with errors and really is not a good idea. Removing unused id attributes is another one of those short sighted mistakes people make as external cfi references by scholars and others into locations inside the epub, page boundaries, and etc are often lost or destroyed. And as a practical rule, anything that does not significantly impact loading or execution speed should generally be left alone is probably a good idea. What JSWolf does with his own books is up to him, but advocating his views to everyone else as a "law" is not. Simpler is better until it is not. Be careful making changes not fully understood. Adding or removing default css from a class can and does impact inheritance and can cause errors when reader injected css exists that needs to be overridden, etc.

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