I've been hesitant to use UI libraries in my projects, mostly because I feel they don't really speed up my workflow. I'm curious if there are other compelling reasons to use them. Specifically, is it advantageous to use a UI library when multiple developers are collaborating on the same project, rather than creating everything from scratch? For instance, when using Angular, I often find it easy to build UI components without needing to rely on libraries like Tailwind or Angular Material. While these libraries do have a lot to offer, I feel overwhelmed by the learning curve yet see their potential for inspiring design patterns. Am I missing something here? I'd love to hear different perspectives on this!
4 Answers
Using a UI library can save a ton of time, but it really works best if your design aligns with that library. For example, if your designer chooses Material UI and you're implementing it with Angular Material, it can streamline your process. On the other hand, if your design doesn't fit well, you'll end up spending a lot of time trying to work around the limitations of the library.
When working with UI libraries, you might start questioning your choice at some point, especially when things don't mesh well with your existing setup. That said, you can mitigate a lot of issues by wrapping the library components into your system's specific syntax and styles. This way, if something doesn’t work well, it's easier to swap it out without disrupting the entire project, making life easier for the whole team.
Honestly, if you're under tight deadlines, UI libraries can make managing complex components like dialogs, toasts, and loading animations much easier. Setting everything up from scratch can be a real headache, especially when you're racing against the clock. Once I started using Vuetify, I found it made my projects look really clean and professional without the stress of building every component yourself.
One of the big perks of using a pre-established UI library is you can find one that already has brand guidelines and color schemes, which helps you create accessible interfaces without reinventing the wheel. This can be a huge time saver!
That makes sense! Do you think it’s better to build most of the app from scratch and then just pull in smaller UI libraries when necessary? I've found those larger libraries can introduce so much boilerplate, making it harder to address specific edge cases.