Convert px to rem Using Sass - 3 methods

By now, you probably figured out what rem units are and why you should use them. But, the tricky part is to calculate them (at least, in your head). Luckily, using Sass, it's really easy to convert any value into rem, and we can achieve that in 3 ways or methods, using mixins and functions.
 

Method 1 - using a @mixing with predefined property

Let's say we have a 400px wide div, but we want to convert that width value to rem. The easiest way would be by using a mixin with predefined property. We know 1rem equals to 16px, and our div is 400px wide, so the basic calculation is: 400 divided by 16. To calculate it with Sass, we could create a simple mixin like this:

@mixin width($value) {
    width: ($value / 16) + rem;
}

div {
    @include width(400);    
}

This method works well, but the problem is - you have to define a new mixin for every property. That could easily spun out of control. But if you only have a few mixins, it could work. After all, it's the easiest method.
 

Method 2 - using a @mixing with 2 arguments

To avoid creating a new mixin for every property, we could create a mixin with 2 arguments - CSS property and value. Note that a property statement is not a number, so we have to convert it to string by wrapping it into #{}.

@mixin toRem($property, $value) {
    #{$property}: ($value / 16) + rem;
}

div {
    @include toRem(width, 400);
}

This method is much more flexible, but for every new CSS property we have to use a new @incude call. Unfortunately, we can call only one set of arguments per @incude. That could potentially lead to a readability problem, for example:

@include toRem(width, 400);
@include toRem(height, 400);
@include toRem(font-size, 16);
@include toRem(margin, 20);
//etc

Method 3 - using a function

Third method is by using a Sass @function. Unlike mixin, which in previous methods "generated" CSS, our function will only calculate the value. In a function, we have to use @return rule to indicate the value to use as the result of calling that function. We can use that function with any property.

@function toRem($value) {
    $remValue: ($value / 16) + rem; 
    @return $remValue;
}

div {
    width: toRem(400);
    height: toRem(400);
}

Although this method surely seems like a number one go-to method, remember that a function only generates a value.
 

Which method to use?

Well, I'd say, try all three. They all have their advantages and limits, so check a pen below with all of the examples, and experiment... It's up to you to decide which one suits your purpose the best.

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