{"id":10192,"date":"2022-03-04T03:10:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-04T02:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pagepro.co\/blog\/?p=10192"},"modified":"2024-09-20T15:26:26","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T13:26:26","slug":"what-is-a-ui-component-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pagepro.co\/blog\/what-is-a-ui-component-library\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is a UI Component Library and When to Use It?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Introduction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Carrying out a design project can be incredibly complex and taxing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, I had a call with a small company CTO whose project required quite a bit of customization in the front-end layer. I asked him whether he had considered using a design system, such as a component library<\/strong>, to get things moving a little bit quicker\u2014he didn\u2019t know what I was talking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I explained to him what a component library is, and once he\u2019d grasped the general idea, it became clear that in his particular case it would be best to ditch the library as it would be simply much better to create all of the necessary user interface elements from scratch, rather than customize and edit<\/a> the entire library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Save Yourself Some Time and Money<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

That, however, was his unique case. By making the call and simply asking he\u2019d saved hundreds of hours his team would have to spend editing the front-end layer of the project that, in the end, would have probably had to be built from zero anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your case may be entirely different and that\u2019s exactly why we\u2019ve decided to prepare this article. Trust me, you don\u2019t want to wake up one day thinking \u2018Gosh! I should\u2019ve spent 10 minutes reading that article that day. This little maneuver is gonna cost me 51 years!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Do yourself a favor. Read on and find out what is best for your particular situation. Save yourself some time and money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is a UI Component Library?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are plenty of advantages of using the most popular JS libraries like React or Vue<\/a>. But you already know that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the biggest perks of working with those libraries is that you get access to a very sizable collection of ready-made UI elements<\/strong>. These materials can greatly facilitate the work of your developers, allowing them to either directly apply them in a project, or modify them, achieving more of a custom feel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A UI library, in the simplest terms, is a collection of materials, or components, that you can readily use or modify to meet your needs<\/strong>. You can think of UI components as single elements available in that library, such as buttons, input fields<\/strong>, or banners<\/strong> made out of pure HTML and CSS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the most well-known libraries would be Ant Design<\/a>, Tailwindui<\/a>, or MUI<\/a>. Design programs such as Figma or Adobe XD also have their own, rich component libraries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Icons
Icon Library on Ant Design<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Components
Components for website creation on Tailwindui<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Sets
Icons sets on Dribble<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind that whether you\u2019re using Angular.js, Vue, React, or any other front-end JS library, you will also be using a different component library for each<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When working on a project you will basically always have to make a choice: do I build all of my UI elements from nothing, or do I save me and my team some time and effort by making use of premade components?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A UI library is where you go when you have decided on the latter. It\u2019s also a great place to go for inspiration for material design<\/strong> as it\u2019s entirely up to you what you decide to do with the components you find there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alright, let’s figure out when it\u2019s best to use the ready-made materials available within UI component libraries and when it\u2019s a better bet to design these elements from scratch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Build your own UI component library<\/p>

SCHEDULE A FREE CALL WITH OUR EXPERT. <\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When to Use a UI Component Library?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You might be asking yourself: why bother creating your own components when you can just use the ready-made ones? Seems like a no-brainer at first, but hear me out.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer is slightly more obscure than you might think. Before deciding on either, you need to know your project inside-out<\/strong>. You need to consider things like your project\u2019s deadline<\/strong>, the amount of front-end work <\/strong>that has to be done, the size of the project,<\/strong> or the experience of your developers and UI designers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You also need to think about your budget<\/strong> and ask yourself whether the originality is worth the extra buck, or if you\u2019d rather save some money and have a slightly more conventional design<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Functionality Instead of Visual Aspects<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When you decide on using a UI library, you might have to hold your creative horses, which might consequently limit the visual part of your project. That said, if all you want is a good-looking, fully-functional website or app<\/strong>, then a component library will probably satisfy all of your needs and then some.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good example of such a project would be building an administration panel. Admin panels are meant to be clear and easy to use<\/strong>. What we\u2019re looking for is a responsive, functional, and intuitive interface that works<\/em>. In this case, a component library should be an obvious choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Admin
UI components design for admin panel by Ghulam Rasool<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Proof of Concept Project<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When you have a vision of your final product it can be incredibly tempting to throw yourself into it and just start building everything from scratch. I know, I\u2019ve been there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, whenever you find yourself in a situation where you\u2019re not a hundred percent sure of what the final result of that particular project will look like, just take a deep breath and stop for a minute.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of funneling resources into designing your own elements, you might as well use the ready-made UI elements and test your idea<\/strong> and the functionality of your project at an early stage.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is one of those situations where you should definitely slow down and use a library before blowing your resources on the world\u2019s coolest-looking search bars. Come on!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Limiting Budget of the Project<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s an unquestionable advantage of using a UI library is that there is less work to be done in general. While designing original components you have to pay developers and designers to write them up and make them functional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you use a library, all you need to do is find the right UI elements and either use or edit them to fit your own needs<\/strong>\u2014up to you. When on a budget, go for a component library. It will do just fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No Designer on the Team<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Designers are highly-skilled professionals, and, as we all know, highly-skilled professionals can get expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar to the previous example, there are times when you don\u2019t want to burn half of your budget just to get a custom look. Sometimes you want and need to get the project running ASAP without paying crazy money for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re in this place, go with the UI library<\/strong>. You\u2019ll be surprised at how far you can get with minimal design skills & experience by simply following the guidelines. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n