How to Split a UI into Components the Right Way

When we start learning component-based development (especially in React or similar frameworks), one of the most common questions is:

“How big should a component be?”

There is no single fixed rule, but understanding component sizes and their trade-offs can save you from confusion, over-engineering, and messy codebases.

In this blog, I’ll share what I learned about component sizes, their pros and cons, and a practical approach I personally follow while building components.

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Understanding Component Sizes

In general, components can be divided into three categories:

1. Small Components
2. Medium Components
3. Huge (Large) Components

Each has its own use case, advantages, and disadvantages.

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1. Small Components 🧱

Small components are usually very tiny and focused on a single task.

✅ Pros

• Highly reusable
• Low complexity
• Easy to test and maintain
• Very reliable, because they do one thing only

Examples:

• Button
• Input Field
• Icon component
• Loader / Spinner
• Badge / Label

❌ Cons

• If overused, they create too many files
• You may end up with hundreds of tiny components
• Can cause confusion in the codebase
• Leads to over-abstraction, which slows development

🔴 Important:
Small components are powerful, but creating them everywhere is not a good idea.

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2. Huge Components 🏗️

Huge components contain a lot of logic, UI, and props in a single file.

✅ Pros

• Useful when the component is:

  • Very specific
  • Not meant to be reused

• Faster to write in early development

• No unnecessary abstraction

❌ Cons

• Hard to understand
• Difficult to maintain
• Takes too many props
• Poor reusability
• Mixing logic, UI, and responsibilities

🔴 Huge components are okay only when reuse is not required.

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3. Medium Components ✅ (The Sweet Spot)

Medium components are the best default choice for most applications.

They are:

• Not too small
• Not too large
• Focused but meaningful

✅ Why Medium Components Are Perfect

• Clear separation of responsibilities
• Easier to read and understand
• Balanced reuse
• Avoids over-abstraction
• Combines benefits of small and large components

Think of them as logical UI blocks, such as:

• Navbar
• Product Card
• User Profile Section
• Form Section

➡️ They internally may use small components, but the overall responsibility is clear.

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Small and Huge Components Are NOT Useless 🚫

A common misunderstanding is thinking that only medium components are good.

That’s not true.

• Small components are excellent for generic UI elements.

• Huge components are useful when:

  • The feature is unique
  • You won’t reuse it
  • Splitting adds no real value

✅ The key is knowing when to use what.

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My Personal Approach to Creating Components 🔧

This is how I usually work:

1. I start by creating one large (huge) component.
2. I build the complete UI and logic inside it.
3. Then I observe:

• What code is repeating?

• What part feels reusable?

  1. I extract that repeated logic/UI into a:

• Small component or

• Medium component

  1. Over time, the huge component becomes cleaner and easier to manage.

This approach helps me:

• Avoid premature abstraction
• Keep momentum while coding
• Refactor only when needed

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Practical Guidelines for Better Components 📌

Here are some important rules I try to follow:

1️⃣ Avoid Early Abstraction

Do not create new components too early.

If you jump into abstraction at the start:

• You waste energy
• Your codebase becomes harder to navigate

✅ Build first, refactor later.

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2️⃣ Use Declarative Component Names

A component name should clearly describe what it does.

✅ Good Examples:

• UserProfile
• ProductList
• CheckoutSummary

❌ Bad Examples:

• ComponentA
• Box1
• HandleStuff

🧠 Your component name should explain itself.

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3️⃣ Avoid Deep Component Nesting

Too many components inside components make the code hard to follow.

❌ Bad:

<ComponentA>
  <ComponentB>
    <ComponentC />
  </ComponentB>
</ComponentA>

✅ Prefer flatter and clearer structures whenever possible.

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4️⃣ Don’t Create Similar Components in the Same File

If components are similar, they probably:

• Should be merged
• Or extracted properly

Avoid duplicating slightly different components side by side.

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Final Thoughts 💭

There is no perfect rule for component size.

Good developers:

• Understand trade-offs
• Adjust based on project needs
• Choose clarity over trends

✅ Medium components should be your default choice
✅ Small components should be used wisely
✅ Huge components should be intentional

If you can read your code after 6 months and still understand it - you’re doing it right