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Discussion on: The CSS frameworks you should know.

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roblevintennis profile image
Rob Levin

I don't think it really matters whether Tailwind or Bootstrap are in first position. They're definitely both in top 3-4. Material is pretty favored by React devs from what I've seen.

But TW and BS are so apples to oranges. BS == component based library (but they've added a nice handful of utilities themselves). TW is utility first. I cannot get myself to use it but will admit it has great results for those that do. And the JIT classes removal is a big win for them.

There are some very interesting arguments against both of these styles. Then there's the classless camp that prefers very little classes and cleaner markup. But that has it's own limitations.

Learning core CSS + extra attention to grid and flexbox will serve you very well whether you choose to use a framework or not. If you use TW or BS utilities for example, how would you know what to do with the flexbox classes unless you at least know the basics of flexbox?

My personal gripe with Tailwind, Tachyons, etc., is that I have to remember yet another DSL on top of the CSS I already need to know. But that's really my opinion and hang up. Do as you please :-) It's definitely working for lots of folks.

I think if you're into React ChakraUI would be above some of these for me.

I'm a framework author myself so dig up mine out of my profile if you'd like haha. But yeah, I agree too with:

You should have a considerable understanding of CSS before you start learning any framework

So really learn core CSS and also use multiple frameworks. Make decisions based off of experience and observation and not what someone tells you to do and you'll be in a good place 😄 💪 ⭐ 🙌