Unlocking the Power of Floating UI: A Comprehensive Guide

Floating UI is a revolutionary JavaScript library that enables developers to create interactive elements like tooltips, popovers, and dropdowns with ease. This lightweight library is designed to be extensible and customizable, making it an ideal choice for developers looking to enhance their user interface.

Getting Started with Floating UI

To begin using Floating UI, simply install the library using npm or load it through a CDN. The computePosition function is the heart of Floating UI, allowing developers to position floating elements next to a reference element.

Building a Basic Tooltip

To demonstrate the power of Floating UI, let’s build a basic tooltip. Start by setting up the HTML structure and styling the tooltip with absolute positioning. Then, use the computePosition function to calculate the coordinates for the tooltip.

const tooltip = document.getElementById('tooltip');
const button = document.getElementById('button');

computePosition(button, tooltip, {
  placement: 'bottom',
}).then(({ x, y }) => {
  Object.assign(tooltip.style, {
    left: `${x}px`,
    top: `${y}px`,
  });
});

Middleware: Extending the Behavior of Floating Elements

Middleware is a powerful feature in Floating UI that allows developers to modify or provide data to the consumer. There are several built-in middlewares available, including offset, shift, flip, and size.

const middleware = [
  offset(4),
  shift({ padding: 5 }),
];

computePosition(button, tooltip, {
  placement: 'bottom',
  middleware,
}).then(({ x, y }) => {
  //...
});

Showing Tooltips on Hover

To display tooltips on hover, simply attach event listeners to the button and call the computePosition function when the mouse enters or leaves the button.

button.addEventListener('mouseenter', () => {
  computePosition(button, tooltip, {
    placement: 'bottom',
  }).then(({ x, y }) => {
    //...
  });
});

button.addEventListener('mouseleave', () => {
  tooltip.style.display = 'none';
});

Using Floating UI with React

Floating UI can be easily integrated into React applications using the useFloating hook.

import { useFloating } from '@floating-ui/react';

function Tooltip() {
  const { x, y, placement } = useFloating({
    placement: 'bottom',
  });

  return (
    <div
      style={{
        position: 'absolute',
        left: x,
        top: y,
      }}
    >
      Tooltip content
    </div>
  );
}

• Benefits of Using Floating UI:
  • Lightweight and extensible architecture
  • Customizable middleware for modifying element behavior
  • Easily integrates with popular frameworks like React

Floating UI is a powerful and lightweight library for creating interactive elements like tooltips and popovers. With its extensible architecture and customizable middleware, Floating UI is an ideal choice for developers looking to enhance their user interface.