Unlock the Power of CSS-in-JS: A Comprehensive Guide
As a web developer, have you ever struggled to find the specific style definitions of a project, especially in large projects? Fortunately, there’s a simple solution: defining components and styles in the same project file using CSS-in-JS. In this article, we’ll delve into the world of CSS-in-JS, exploring its benefits, popular libraries, and how to get started.
What is CSS-in-JS?
CSS-in-JS is a styling technique where components are styled directly using JavaScript. By defining styles in a variable, we can then use it to style components by wrapping them with the variable tag. This approach has gained popularity, especially when using a JS framework like React or Angular.
Advantages of Using CSS-in-JS
- Easy Code Sharing: Sharing code is easier and more efficient with CSS-in-JS, as others can easily understand your code.
- Less Load on the DOM: Defining CSS and components in the same file reduces the unnecessary load on the virtual DOM.
- Using JavaScript in CSS: We can use complex JavaScript logic to define the value of CSS properties.
- Better Error Handling in CSS: Because the CSS also undergoes the compiling process, we receive error messages, making it easy to find and solve bugs within CSS.
- Portability: Having style and components in the same file makes it easy to use the component in other projects.
Disadvantages of Using CSS-in-JS
- JavaScript Dependence: Styling is defined in the JavaScript file, affecting the styling of the component if JavaScript is disabled.
- Double Parsing: Styles are double-parsed, once by the library and then by the browser, which can impact performance.
- Compile Time vs. Runtime: One of the solutions to improving lost performance time due to double parsing is converting the CSS-in-JS block into a separate CSS file first.
Popular CSS-in-JS Libraries
- Linaria: A popular zero-runtime library with 10.8k GitHub stars, offering features like dynamic prop-based style, CSS source map, and linting CSS.
- Astroturf: A great alternative to Linaria, helping you achieve zero runtime by keeping CSS fully static with no runtime parsing.
- Reshadow: A library offering features like the benefit of PostCSS, static styles, and CSS module.
- vanilla-extract: A popular zero-runtime CSS-in-JS library with over 8.7k stars on GitHub, offering support for bundlers, well-documented, easy setup, and type safety.
- Treat: A popular zero-runtime CSS-in-JS package with over 1.2k stars on GitHub, offering good documentation, themeable, and type safety.
- Goober: A lightweight, zero-dependency package with built-in extractCss function, allowing you to extract static CSS files and inject them into the
<head>tag.
Getting Started with CSS-in-JS
To start using CSS-in-JS, choose a library that fits your needs, and follow the installation instructions. Then, define your styles in a variable, and use it to style your components. With CSS-in-JS, you can unlock the power of styling your components efficiently and effectively.
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