CSS Optimization: Element ID vs. Class

Question

With MVC and jQuery I am making significantly more use of CSS. A question that came to mind is what is the best approach for using Element IDs vs. Classes. If I use Element

Answer 1

I generally prefer the class method. The reason being that you don't have to write up a new css selector for each new ID'd element in your system.

Also, I tend to differentiate between "structure" and "style" css. Meaning, that I separate things that deal with size (width / height) and position from css classes that do font-weight, color, etc.

For non-changing structural framework pieces, I'll use ID's. For parts that may have multiple representations in the HTML, I'll stick with class mechanisms.