Unlock the Power of Tailwind CSS with SolidJS
In the world of web development, speed and efficiency are key. That’s why Tailwind CSS has become the go-to framework for developers who want to quickly ship frontend user interfaces. When paired with SolidJS, a lightweight JavaScript framework known for its blazing fast speeds, the possibilities are endless.
Getting Started with SolidJS
To create a Solid application, start by running the following command in your terminal:
npx degit solidjs/templates/js my-app
This will clone a SolidJS template application built with Vite. You can choose to clone either the TypeScript or JavaScript template version, but for this guide, we’ll proceed with the JavaScript template.
Next, install the project dependencies by running:
cd my-app
npm install
Finally, spin up a local development server using:
npm run dev
This will launch a local server on port 3000, and you can view the app running at http://localhost:3000/.
Setting Up Tailwind CSS
Now that our SolidJS project is up and running, it’s time to install and set up Tailwind CSS. To do this, run the following command:
npm install tailwindcss postcss autoprefixer
Next, generate your tailwind.config.js and postcss.config.js files using:
npx tailwindcss init -p
These files allow you to configure Tailwind and PostCSS to work seamlessly with your project.
Configuring Tailwind
Update the purge array in your tailwind.config.js file to include a list of files or directories you want to remove unused Tailwind classes from. This process, known as treeshaking, helps minimize your bundle size when deploying your application.
Importing Tailwind Styles
Import Tailwind’s CSS styles in your index.css file, located in the src folder, by replacing the content with:
@tailwind base;
@tailwind components;
@tailwind utilities;
Confirming Installation
Finally, import Tailwind into your index.jsx or index.ts file, and add Tailwind classes to the paragraph tags in your App.jsx or App.ts file. Your app screen on the browser should now display the styled content.
Building a Mini SolidJS Application
Let’s build a mini SolidJS application that makes an API call to the OpenBreweryDB API and fetches a list of breweries. We’ll style and display the output using Tailwind.
First, delete the content of your App.jsx file and replace it with the code that fetches the list of breweries from the API. Then, add Tailwind classes to the root div, app title, and ul tags to style the output.
Unlocking the Full Potential of Tailwind
With Tailwind CSS set up and running with your SolidJS application, the possibilities are endless. Explore the official documentation to discover more classes and styling options, and take your application to the next level.
Monitoring Frontend Performance
As you continue to build and optimize your application, don’t forget to monitor frontend performance metrics like CPU usage, memory usage, and more. Try LogRocket to modernize how you debug web and mobile apps.