title_body: Is it a good idea to minify code when coding ePubs? I typically minify my .css file because it's something I am used to when developing websites, but I have seen some people actually minify their .xml files (such as the .ncx, .opf, etc.). I have always wondered if anyone has seen a noticeable difference when viewing a minified .epub file on a device?
upvoted_answer: Personally, I never minify code in ebooks. A big part of the reason for that is that unlike many here, I don't use Sigil or Calibre to edit my epub files&mdash;I use either Notepad++ or Geany depending on the OS I'm working in. Because I'm always working with the code, it does nothing but make my life harder if I've minified the whole thing and the client comes back to us with two or three rounds of proofing corrections.
  
  On top of that, many in the publishing world are starting to talk about using HTML5 as a base format for all their books. Since epub 3.0 content files are HTML 5, you're pretty much working directly with the source files when you're working with the epub, and the source files should be human-readable so that any problems that come up with them can be easily fixed.
  
  Finally, the point of minifying code is to let files transfer across networks more quickly, which is a non-issue for ebooks where everything is local.