8 Ways to Style React Components

React is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces. React makes it painless to create interactive UIs. Design simple views for each state in your application, and React will efficiently update and render just the right components when your data changes.

There are about eight different ways to styling React Js components, there names and explanations of some of them are mentioned below.

1. Inline CSS
2. Normal CSS
3. CSS in JS
4. Styled Components
5. CSS module
6. Sass & SCSS
7. Less
8. Stylable

Inline CSS: In inline styling basically we create objects of style. And render it inside the components in style attribute using the React technique to incorporate JavaScript variable inside the JSX (Using ‘{ }’ )

Example 1: This example illustrates how to use inline styling to style react components.

index.js:

Javascript

import React from 'react'
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom'
import App from './App'

ReactDOM.render(<App />, document.querySelector('#root'))

App.js

Javascript

import React, { Component } from 'react'
import StudentList from './StudentList'

const App = () => {
  return (
    <div>
      <StudentList
        name='Ashank'
        classNo='X'
        roll='05'
        addr='Kolkata, West Bengal'
      />
      <StudentList
        name='Samir'
        classNo='Xi'
        roll='09'
        addr='Jalpaiguri, West Bengal'
      />
      <StudentList
        name='Tusar'
        classNo='Xii'
        roll='02'
        addr='Howrah, West Bengal'
      />
      <StudentList
        name='Karishma'
        classNo='ix'
        roll='08'
        addr='Mednipur, West Bengal'
      />
    </div>
  )
}

export default App

StudentList.js: It is a studentList component rendered by the App component. It displays details of each student.

Javascript

import React, { Component } from 'react'

class StudentList extends Component{
  render(){
    const {name, classNo, roll, addr} = this.props
    const ulStyle = {border: '2px solid green', width:'40%', listStyleType:'none'}
    const liStyle = {color : 'blue', fontSize:'23px'}
    return(
      <ul style={ulStyle}>
        <li style={liStyle}>Name : {name}</li>
        <li style={liStyle}>Class: {classNo}</li>
        <li style={liStyle}>Roll: {roll}</li>
        <li style={liStyle}>Address : {addr}</li>
      </ul>
    )
  }
}

export default StudentList

Output:

Styling using inline styles

Example 2:

index.js :

Javascript

import React from 'react'
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom'
import App from './App'

ReactDOM.render(<App />, document.querySelector('#root'))

App.js

Javascript

import React from 'react';
import Lottery from './Lottery'

function App() {
  return (
    <div>
      <Lottery />
      <Lottery title='Mini Daily'/>
    </div>
  );
}

export default App;

Ball.js: Ball component responsible to design each ball

Javascript

import React, { Component } from 'react'

class Ball extends Component{
  render(){
    const ballStyle = {
      backgroundColor: 'tomato',
      borderRadius: '50%',
      width:'3em',
      height:'2.25em',
      textAlign:'center',
      paddingTop: '0.75em',
      display:'inline-block',
      marginRight: '0.5em',
      marginTop: '1em',
      color:'white',
      fontWeight: 'bold',
      fontSize: '1.5em'
    }
    return(
      <div style={ballStyle}>
        {this.props.num}
      </div>
    )
  }
}

export default Ball

Lottery.js: Lottery component responsible to render a single lottery card consists of six ball components.

Javascript

import React,{ Component } from 'react'
import Ball from './Ball'

class Lottery extends Component{
  static defaultProps = {
    title : 'lotto',
    numbers : [1,2,3,4,5,6]
  }

  render(){
    const lotteryStyle={
      border: '2px solid grey',
      borderRadius: '10px',
      width:'40em',
      textAlign:'center',
      margin: '1em auto auto',
      padding: '1em 0 2em 0'
    }
    return(
      <div style={lotteryStyle}>
        <h3>{this.props.title}</h3>
        <div>
          {this.props.numbers.map(n => (
            <Ball num={n} />
          ))}
        </div>
      </div>
    )
  }
}

export default Lottery

Output:

Inline Styling

Normal CSS: In the external CSS styling technique, we basically create an external CSS file for each component and do the required styling of classes. and use those class names inside the component. It is a convention that name of the external CSS file same as the name of the component with ‘.css’ extension. It is better if the name of the classes used, follow the format ‘componentName-context’ (here context signifies where we use this classname). For example, if we style the header of a component called ‘Box’, a better classname should style this element should be ‘Box-header’.

Example: This example illustrates how to style react components with external stylesheets.

index.js:

Javascript

import React from 'react'
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom'
import App from './App'

ReactDOM.render(<App />, document.querySelector('#root'))

App.js :

Javascript

import React, { Component } from 'react'
import StudentList from './StudentList'

const App = () => {
  return (
    <div>
      <StudentList
        name='Ashank'
        classNo='X'
        roll='05'
        addr='Kolkata, West Bengal'
      />
      <StudentList
        name='Samir'
        classNo='Xi'
        roll='09'
        addr='Jalpaiguri, West Bengal'
      />
      <StudentList
        name='Tusar'
        classNo='Xii'
        roll='02'
        addr='Howrah, West Bengal'
      />
      <StudentList
        name='Karishma'
        classNo='ix'
        roll='08'
        addr='Mednipur, West Bengal'
      />
    </div>
  )
}

export default App

StudentList.js: It is a studentList component rendered by the App component. It displays details of each student.

Javascript

import React, { Component } from 'react'

class StudentList extends Component{
  render(){
    const {name, classNo, roll, addr} = this.props
    return(
      <ul className='StudentList'>
        <li className='StudentList-details'>Name : {name}</li>
        <li className='StudentList-details'>Class: {classNo}</li>
        <li className='StudentList-details'>Roll: {roll}</li>
        <li className='StudentList-details'>Address : {addr}</li>
      </ul>
    )
  }
}

export default StudentList

StudentList.CSS: Since there is no place to add CSS code externally, Here I add a screenshot of the CSS code.

CSS

.StudentList{
    border: 2px solid green;
    width: 40%:
    list-style-type: none;
    }

.StudentList-details{
    color: blue;
    font-size: 23px;
    }

Output:

External CSS styling

CSS in JS: The’react-jss’ integrates JSS with react app to style components. It helps to write CSS with Javascript and allows us to describe styles in a more descriptive way. It uses javascript objects to describe styles in a declarative way using ‘createUseStyles’ method of react-jss and incorporate those styles in functional components using className attribute.

Command to install third-party react-jss package

npm install react-jss

Example :

index.js:

Javascript

import React from 'react'
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom'
import App from './App'

ReactDOM.render(<App />, document.querySelector('#root'))

App.js

Javascript

import React, { Component } from 'react'
import StudentList from './StudentList'

const App = () => {
  return (
    <div>
      <StudentList
        name='Ashank'
        classNo='X'
        roll='05'
        addr='Kolkata, West Bengal'
      />
      <StudentList
        name='Samir'
        classNo='Xi'
        roll='09'
        addr='Jalpaiguri, West Bengal'
      />
      <StudentList
        name='Tusar'
        classNo='Xii'
        roll='02'
        addr='Howrah, West Bengal'
      />
      <StudentList
        name='Karishma'
        classNo='ix'
        roll='08'
        addr='Mednipur, West Bengal'
      />
    </div>
  )
}

export default App

StudentList.js: It is a studentList component rendered by the App component. It displays the details of each student.

Javascript

import React, { Component } from 'react'
import {createUseStyles} from 'react-jss'

const styles = createUseStyles({
  student : {
    border : '2px solid green',
    width: '40%',
    listStyleType:'none'
  },

  studentDetails : {
    color : 'blue',
    fontSize : '23px'
  }
})

const StudentList = (props) => {
  const classes = styles()
  const {name, classNo, roll, addr} = props
  return(
    <ul className={classes.student}>
      <li className={classes.studentDetails}>Name : {name}</li>
      <li className={classes.studentDetails}>Class: {classNo}</li>
      <li className={classes.studentDetails}>Roll: {roll}</li>
      <li className={classes.studentDetails}>Address : {addr}</li>
    </ul>
  )
}

export default StudentList

Output:

Styling with CSS in JS

Styled Components: The styled-components allows us to style the CSS under the variable created in JavaScript. style components is a third party package using which we can create a component as a JavaScript variable that is already styled with CSS code and used that styled component in our main component. styled-components allow us to create custom reusable components which can be less of a hassle to maintain.

Command to install third-party styled-components package

npm install --save styled-components

Example:

index.js:

Javascript

import React from 'react'
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom'
import App from './App'

ReactDOM.render(<App />, document.querySelector('#root'))

App.js

Javascript

import React, { Component } from 'react'
import StudentList from './StudentList'

const App = () => {
  return (
    <div>
      <StudentList
        name='Ashank'
        classNo='X'
        roll='05'
        addr='Kolkata, West Bengal'
      />
      <StudentList
        name='Samir'
        classNo='Xi'
        roll='09'
        addr='Jalpaiguri, West Bengal'
      />
      <StudentList
        name='Tusar'
        classNo='Xii'
        roll='02'
        addr='Howrah, West Bengal'
      />
      <StudentList
        name='Karishma'
        classNo='ix'
        roll='08'
        addr='Mednipur, West Bengal'
      />
    </div>
  )
}

export default App

StudentList.js: It is a studentList component rendered by the App component. It displays details of each student.

Javascript

import React, { Component } from 'react'
import styled from 'styled-components'

//styled component Li
const Li = styled.li`
  color : blue;
  font-size : 23px
`

//Styled component Ul
const Ul = styled.ul`
  border : 2px solid green;
  width: 40%;
  list-style-type:none
`

const StudentList = (props) => {
  const {name, classNo, roll, addr} = props
  return(
    <Ul>
      <Li>Name : {name}</Li>
      <Li>Class: {classNo}</Li>
      <Li>Roll: {roll}</Li>
      <Li>Address : {addr}</Li>
    </Ul>
  )
}

export default StudentList

Output :

Styling with styled components

CSS Modules: A CSS module is a simple CSS file but a key difference is by default when it is imported every class name and animation inside the CSS module is scoped locally to the component that is importing it also CSS file name should follow the format ‘filename.module.css’. This allows us to use a valid name for CSS classes without worrying about conflicts with other class names in your application.

To use CSS modules create a normal CSS file, import the module you have created from within your component using the syntax

import styles from './filename.module.css

Example :

index.js:

Javascript

import React from 'react'
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom'
import App from './App'

ReactDOM.render(<App />, document.querySelector('#root'))

App.js

Javascript

import React, { Component } from 'react'
import StudentList from './StudentList'

const App = () => {
  return (
    <div>
      <StudentList
        name='Ashank'
        classNo='X'
        roll='05'
        addr='Kolkata, West Bengal'
      />
      <StudentList
        name='Samir'
        classNo='Xi'
        roll='09'
        addr='Jalpaiguri, West Bengal'
      />
      <StudentList
        name='Tusar'
        classNo='Xii'
        roll='02'
        addr='Howrah, West Bengal'
      />
      <StudentList
        name='Karishma'
        classNo='ix'
        roll='08'
        addr='Mednipur, West Bengal'
      />
    </div>
  )
}

export default App

StudentList.js :

Javascript

import React, { Component } from 'react'
import style from './StudentList.module.css'

const StudentList = (props) => {
  const {name, classNo, roll, addr} = props
  return(
    <ul className={style.list}>
      <li className={style.details}>Name : {name}</li>
      <li className={style.details}>Class: {classNo}</li>
      <li className={style.details}>Roll: {roll}</li>
      <li className={style.details}>Address : {addr}</li>
    </ul>
  )
}

export default StudentList

StudentList.module.css: Since there is no place to add CSS code externally, Here I add a screenshot of the CSS code.

CSS

.list{
    border: 2px solid green;
    width: 40%:
    list-style-type: none;
    }

.details{
    color: blue;
    font-size: 23px;
    }

Output :

Styling with CSS modules

Sass and SCSS: Sass is the most stable, powerful, professional-grade CSS extension language. It’s a CSS preprocessor that adds special features such as variables, nested rules, and mixins or syntactic sugar in regular CSS. The aim is to make the coding process simpler and more efficient.

Installation:

• Step 1: Before moving further, firstly we have to install node-sass , by running the following command in your project directory, with the help of terminal in your SRC folder or you can also run this command in Visual Studio Code’s terminal in your project folder. 
  

npm install node-sass

• Step 2 : After the installation is complete we create a file name StudentList.scss .
• Step 3: Now include the necessary CSS effects in your CSS file.
• Step 4: Now we import our file the same way we import a CSS file in React.
• Step 5: In your app.js file, add this code snippet to import  StudentList.scss.

import './ StudentList.scss';

Below is a sample program to illustrate the above approach :

Example:

index.js :

Javascript

import React from 'react'
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom'
import App from './App'

ReactDOM.render(<App />, document.querySelector('#root'))

App.js :

Javascript

import React, { Component } from 'react'
import StudentList from './StudentList'

const App = () => {
  return (
    <div>
      <StudentList
        name='Ashank'
        classNo='X'
        roll='05'
        addr='Kolkata, West Bengal'
      />
      <StudentList
        name='Samir'
        classNo='Xi'
        roll='09'
        addr='Jalpaiguri, West Bengal'
      />
      <StudentList
        name='Tusar'
        classNo='Xii'
        roll='02'
        addr='Howrah, West Bengal'
      />
      <StudentList
        name='Karishma'
        classNo='ix'
        roll='08'
        addr='Mednipur, West Bengal'
      />
    </div>
  )
}

export default App

StudentList.js :

Javascript

import React, { Component } from 'react'
import './StudentList.scss'

const StudentList = (props) => {
  const {name, classNo, roll, addr} = props
  return(
    <ul className='list'>
      <li className='details'>Name : {name}</li>
      <li className='details'>Class: {classNo}</li>
      <li className='details'>Roll: {roll}</li>
      <li className='details'>Address : {addr}</li>
    </ul>
  )
}

export default StudentList

StudentList.scss : Since there is no place to add CSS code externally, Here I add a screenshot of the CSS code.

CSS

&blue-shade: #264BC4;
&pale-green-color: #3CC27F;

.list{
    border: 2px solid &pale-green-color;
    width: 40%:
    list-style-type: none;
    }

.details{
    color: &blue-shade;
    font-size: 23px;
    }

Output :

Styling using Sass