rgba() and hsla() are legacy functions and aliases in modern browsers

I still define my CSS colors in hex values. 💪 rgb(), rgba(), hsl() and hsla() are valuable CSS functions, but it's so cumbersome to convert hex values (#34aa44) to numbers or percentages. That's why I never adopted the color functions.

My rare usage is why I missed that the CSS Color Module Level 4 spec made rgba() and hsla() redundant.

The specification introduced two changes:

• rgb()/hsl() accept alpha values.
• Color functions accept space-separared values.

With rgb()/hsl() accepting transparency values, hsla() and rgba() became legacy functions and are now aliases for rgb()/hsl().

The second edition is a new space-separated syntax, that improves readability:

/* evolution of the rgb function with transparency */
rgba(255, 255, 255, 50%)
rgba(255 255 255 / 50%)
rgb(255 255 255 / 50%)

/* evolution of the hsl function with transparency */
hsla(235, 100%, 50%, 50%) 
hsla(235 100% 50% / 100%)
hsl(235 100% 50% / 100%)

These two new features made color handling easier! You don't have to worry about color functions that do or don't support transparency, and the space/slash syntax highlights seperates values and makes it easier to read. I love it when CSS becomes more precise!