It occurred to me while we were talking about flexbox and gap that one reason we sometimes reach for flexbox is to chuck some boxes in a row and space them out a little.
My brain still reaches for flexbox in that situation, and with gap, it probably will continue to do so. It’s worth noting though that grid can do the same thing in its own special way.
Like this:
.grid {
display: grid;
gap: 1rem;
grid-auto-flow: column;
}They all look equal width there, but that’s only because there is no content in them. With content, you’ll see the boxes start pushing on each other based on the natural width of that content. If you need to exert some control, you can always set width / min-width / max-width on the elements that fall into those columns — or, set them with grid-template-columns but without setting the actual number of columns, then letting the min-content dictate the width.
.grid {
display: grid;
gap: 1rem;
grid-auto-flow: column;
grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fit, minmax(min-content, 1fr));
}Flexible grids are the coolest.
Another thought… if you only want the whole grid itself to be as wide as the content (i.e. less than 100% or auto, if need be) then be aware that display: inline-grid; is a thing.