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A Beginner's Guide to Tailwind CSS and How It Compares to Other UI Libraries in 2023

Authors

Overview

What is TailwindCSS?

TailwindCSS is a popular CSS framework that offers a unique utility-first approach to styling web pages. With its pre-defined CSS classes, developers can easily customize and combine styles to create a unique and responsive design, all while saving time and effort that would otherwise be spent writing custom CSS.

Getting Started with TailwindCSS

To begin working with TailwindCSS, there are two main methods: installing via npm or using a CDN link. In this example, we will be using npm to install TailwindCSS:

npm install tailwindcss

Once installed, a configuration file must be created for TailwindCSS. This can be done by running the following command:

npx tailwindcss init

After running this command, a tailwind.config.js file will be generated in the project directory, which contains various configuration options such as colors, fonts, and spacing.

Comparison with other CSS frameworks

When it comes to styling web applications, there are several popular CSS frameworks available in the market. In this section, we will compare TailwindCSS with some of the most popular ones, including Bootstrap, Material UI, Chakra UI, and Styled Components.

Bootstrap

Bootstrap is one of the oldest and most widely used CSS frameworks. It provides a pre-built set of classes for building responsive and mobile-first websites. Here's an example of how to create a button using Bootstrap button classes:

function CustomButton() {
  return <button className="btn btn-primary">Click me</button>
}

Material UI

Material UI, on the other hand, is a React-based UI framework that follows Google's Material Design guidelines. It provides a comprehensive set of React components that can be easily customized to fit your design needs. Here's an example of how to create a button using Material UI Button:

import { Button } from '@material-ui/core'

function CustomButton() {
  return (
    <Button variant="contained" color="primary">
      Click me
    </Button>
  )
}

Chakra UI

Chakra UI is another popular React-based UI framework that focuses on accessibility and developer experience. It provides a set of customizable and reusable UI React components that can be easily styled. Here's an example of how to create a button using Chakra UI Button:

import { Button } from '@chakra-ui/react'

function CustomButton() {
  return <Button colorScheme="blue">Click me</Button>
}

Styled Components

Finally, Styled Components is a CSS-in-JS library that allows you to write CSS code directly in your React components. It provides a way to create reusable and composable styling components. Here's an example of how to create a button:

import styled from 'styled-components'

const Button = styled.button`
  background-color: blue;
  color: white;
  padding: 8px 16px;
  border-radius: 4px;
`

function CustomButton() {
  return <Button>Click me</Button>
}

Tailwind CSS

Now, let's take a look at how TailwindCSS compares with these frameworks. Here's an example of how to create a button:

function CustomButton() {
  return <button className="bg-blue-500 text-white font-bold py-2 px-4 rounded">Click me</button>
}

TailwindCSS uses utility class names like bg-blue-500 text-white font-bold py-2 px-4 rounded to style HTML elements, which allows for greater flexibility and customization compared to other frameworks like Bootstrap, Material UI, and Chakra UI that offer limited options.

Styled Components also utilizes a similar utility-first approach but generates CSS at runtime using JavaScript, which can result in larger file sizes and slower performance. In contrast, TailwindCSS pre-compiles CSS classes during the build process, making it more efficient and closer to vanilla CSS without the need for JavaScript.

Efficiency and performance

Some advantages of using TailwindCSS

1. Reduced file size: TailwindCSS is a utility-first framework, which means it generates only the necessary CSS classes. This leads to smaller file sizes and faster load times.

2. Customizable design system: TailwindCSS provides a customizable design system that can be tailored to the specific needs of a project. This allows developers to build a leaner and more efficient project.

3. Efficient class reuse: TailwindCSS uses a consistent naming convention for its utility classes, making it easy to reuse and apply styles to multiple elements. This leads to less repetition and a more efficient use of CSS as well as less time spent on development.

4. PurgeCSS integration: TailwindCSS integrates with the PurgeCSS tool, which can be used to remove unused CSS classes from a project's stylesheet. This results in a smaller file size and faster load times.

5. Pre-compiled classes: TailwindCSS compiles utility classes during the build process, resulting in vanilla CSS without any additional JavaScript runtime, which can further improve performance.

This website happens to utilize TailwindCSS and its corresponding CSS file is 9.11kb.

Project build

Given the relatively small size of the module, there is no need to contemplate code splitting. In this article, the author documents how they replaced Chakra UI with TailwindCSS and were able to reduce the amount of data per page by approximately 90kb.

Usage of PurgeCSS in TailwindCSS Configuration

To set up PurgeCSS, the tailwind.config.js configuration file needs to be updated for the project. Here's an example:

/* tailwind.config.js */
module.exports = {
  content: [
    // Example content paths that is purged...
    './public/**/*.html',
    './src/**/*.{js,jsx,ts,tsx,vue}',
  ],
  theme: {
    extend: {},
  },
  variants: {
    extend: {},
  },
  plugins: [],
}

In a production build, TailwindCSS will only generate CSS classes that are used in the files matching the paths defined in the content array.

Furthermore, in version v3.0 of TailwindCSS, the JIT (Just in time engine) is utilized to generate CSS classes only when they are needed during the development phase. This functionality enables the creation of classes that are not included in the predefined set of Tailwind utility classes.

Here's an example of using a custom class which uses JIT (Just in time engine) in a JSX component:

function App() {
  return <div className="max-w-[1000px] mx-auto bg-[#1F1B1B] text-[#F4F4F4]">Hello!</div>
}

By using TailwindCSS's utility-first approach and PurgeCSS, developers can create leaner, more efficient projects without needing to write extra CSS for specific customizations.

Disadvantages of TailwindCSS and Possible Solutions

1. Steep learning curve

The utility-first approach of TailwindCSS may take some time to get used to, especially for developers who are used to traditional CSS. One possible solution to this is to provide proper training and resources for developers to learn and get comfortable with the framework. The official TailwindCSS documentation is a great starting point, and there are also numerous online courses and tutorials available.

2. Requires Proficiency in CSS

Another potential disadvantage of using TailwindCSS is that it requires a good understanding of CSS in order to use effectively. While TailwindCSS simplifies the styling process by providing pre-defined classes, developers still need to know how to combine and customize these classes to achieve the desired design.

3. Bloat and unused classes

While TailwindCSS generates only the required CSS, it may still result in a larger file size compared to custom CSS. One possible solution to this is to use the PurgeCSS tool which we have previously discussed

4. Inconsistent styles

TailwindCSS provides a wide range of utility classes that can be used to style various components and elements of a web page. However, with so many classes available, it can be easy for developers to create inconsistencies in styling if not used properly. For example take a look at the following scenario:

<!-- Inconsistency in padding classes -->
<div class="p-4">
  <h1 class="text-lg">Title</h1>
  <p class="text-gray-600">Some text here</p>
</div>

<div class="px-4 py-6">
  <h1 class="text-xl">Title</h1>
  <p class="text-gray-500">Some text here</p>
</div>

In the example above, two different padding classes (p-4 and px-4 py-6) are used to achieve a similar visual effect, which can create inconsistencies in the layout and spacing of elements.

To avoid this, developers can establish guidelines or standards for using TailwindCSS in a project, such as using a consistent set of classes for similar styles and avoiding conflicting styles in different parts of the project.

5. Dynamic styling

TailwindCSS's inability to use string literals can be a disadvantage for developers who need to create dynamic styles based on the state or props of a component. A good example of this is a button component that needs to change its background color based on the color prop passed in. In such cases, simply concatenating a string literal will not work.

To solve this problem, we can use conditional logic within the className attribute of the button component. We can achieve this by using ternary operators that check the value of the color prop and conditionally add the appropriate TailwindCSS class to the button's className. This way, we can achieve dynamic styling without the use of string literals.

Bad example:

function Button({ color, children }) {
  return <button className={`px-4 py-2 text-white rounded-md bg-${color}`}>{children}</button>
}

Good example:

function Button({ color, children }) {
  return (
    <button
      className={`px-4 py-2 text-white rounded-md ${
        color === 'primary'
          ? 'bg-primary'
          : color === 'secondary'
          ? 'bg-secondary'
          : 'bg-transparent'
      }}`}
    >
      {children}
    </button>
  )
}

Summary

In conclusion, Tailwind CSS is a powerful utility-first framework that can be an excellent choice for certain types of web projects, especially those with complex designs and custom layouts that require a lot of flexibility and rapid iteration. It can also be a good choice for developers who prefer to write HTML directly, rather than using a lot of nested components.

However, Tailwind may not be the best choice for every project. It can be more difficult to learn and use than traditional CSS frameworks, and it may not be well-suited for repetitive styling tasks or projects with very simple designs.

Ultimately, the decision to use Tailwind or another CSS framework will depend on the specific requirements and constraints of your project, as well as your personal preferences as a developer.