Changing the styling frameworks for Components

Question

Changing the styling frameworks for Components

Into my UI application developed using Angular, I have the option to select from various CSS frameworks such as:

Bootstrap 4

Foundation

Angular Material

ng-bootstrap or ngx-bootstrap.

A pre-built template available for purchase.

And many others or newer ones...

Is there a recommended approach to design the Angular application in a way that makes it easy to switch to a different CSS framework in the future?

One strategy I am considering is to create a Feature module that imports all the controls from a specific CSS Framework, then creating a wrapper around them for use in the application.

For instance, I could encapsulate an md-button within a custom-button component template in my module and incorporate it throughout my application.

Would this method be effective, or is there a standardized design practice that I should adhere to?

css twitter-bootstrap angular angular-material angular2-template

Answer 1

Answer №1

If you're considering switching out your design framework, think twice before diving in. How often have you actually changed your design framework in the past? Chances are, not very often.

The appearance of a component involves much more than just the individual buttons and inputs. Factors like layout and responsiveness play a significant role in shaping the overall view. For instance, if you opt for material design and wrap a md-button in my-custom-button, as your application evolves, you'll likely need to add padding or margin around the containers holding these controls to achieve a more cohesive Material design aesthetic. Eventually, when you decide to adopt a new design pattern, replacing the buttons alone won't suffice; you'll have to modify all your views to align with the new style. Therefore, views encompass more than just the basic components, making it impractical to individually wrap each component.

A more sensible approach would be to create separate templates for each component.

Suppose your entire application is built using Material design, and now you want to transition to a new design framework. First, you'd need to rename all your templates:

login.component.html > login.component.material.html

Subsequently, create new templates tailored to the new framework:

login.component.newhotness.html

Then, establish a build process that can replace the templateUrl during the build phase based on predefined configurations. By adopting this approach, you can seamlessly integrate technologies like Ionic or NativeScript, which utilize a distinct XML-based syntax instead of HTML for their views.

Key points to remember:

Avoid wrapping existing library components with custom variations
Maintain component templates in distinct files
When transitioning to a new framework, develop unique templates for each component and label the older templates with a name that indicates the framework they belong to
And finally, reap the rewards of your hard work!

Answer 2

If you're considering switching out your design framework, think twice before diving in. How often have you actually changed your design framework in the past? Chances are, not very often.

The appearance of a component involves much more than just the individual buttons and inputs. Factors like layout and responsiveness play a significant role in shaping the overall view. For instance, if you opt for material design and wrap a md-button in my-custom-button, as your application evolves, you'll likely need to add padding or margin around the containers holding these controls to achieve a more cohesive Material design aesthetic. Eventually, when you decide to adopt a new design pattern, replacing the buttons alone won't suffice; you'll have to modify all your views to align with the new style. Therefore, views encompass more than just the basic components, making it impractical to individually wrap each component.

A more sensible approach would be to create separate templates for each component.

Suppose your entire application is built using Material design, and now you want to transition to a new design framework. First, you'd need to rename all your templates:

login.component.html > login.component.material.html

Subsequently, create new templates tailored to the new framework:

login.component.newhotness.html

Then, establish a build process that can replace the templateUrl during the build phase based on predefined configurations. By adopting this approach, you can seamlessly integrate technologies like Ionic or NativeScript, which utilize a distinct XML-based syntax instead of HTML for their views.

Key points to remember:

Avoid wrapping existing library components with custom variations
Maintain component templates in distinct files
When transitioning to a new framework, develop unique templates for each component and label the older templates with a name that indicates the framework they belong to
And finally, reap the rewards of your hard work!

Answer 3

Answer №2

The challenge lies not in the CSS class names, but in the HTML structure. A while back, I began exploring this issue and attempted to create an intermediate language that could generate HTML compliant with either Bulma or Bootstrap, depending on the chosen CSS framework. This involved using Pug mixins with framework-specific implementations. For instance, I could define a form field like this:

form
  +m-input#name(m-label="Name" type="text")
  +m-input#password(m-label="Password" type="password" placeholder="Password")

For Bootstrap, it would output:

<form>
    <div class="form-group">
        <label for="name">Name</label>
        <input id="name" m-label="Name" type="text" class="form-control">
    </div>
    <div class="form-group">
        <label for="password">Password</label>
        <input id="password" m-label="Password" type="password" placeholder="Password" class="form-control">
    </div>
</form>

And for Bulma, it would produce:

<form>
    <div class="field">
        <label for="name" class="label">Name</label>
        <div class="control">
            <input id="name" m-label="Name" type="text" class="input">
        </div>
    </div>
    <div class="field">
        <label for="password" class="label">Password</label>
        <div class="control">
            <input id="password" m-label="Password" type="password" placeholder="Password" class="input">
        </div>
    </div>
</form>

For a more detailed discussion and additional examples, check out this post.

Answer 4

The challenge lies not in the CSS class names, but in the HTML structure. A while back, I began exploring this issue and attempted to create an intermediate language that could generate HTML compliant with either Bulma or Bootstrap, depending on the chosen CSS framework. This involved using Pug mixins with framework-specific implementations. For instance, I could define a form field like this:

form
  +m-input#name(m-label="Name" type="text")
  +m-input#password(m-label="Password" type="password" placeholder="Password")

For Bootstrap, it would output:

<form>
    <div class="form-group">
        <label for="name">Name</label>
        <input id="name" m-label="Name" type="text" class="form-control">
    </div>
    <div class="form-group">
        <label for="password">Password</label>
        <input id="password" m-label="Password" type="password" placeholder="Password" class="form-control">
    </div>
</form>

And for Bulma, it would produce:

<form>
    <div class="field">
        <label for="name" class="label">Name</label>
        <div class="control">
            <input id="name" m-label="Name" type="text" class="input">
        </div>
    </div>
    <div class="field">
        <label for="password" class="label">Password</label>
        <div class="control">
            <input id="password" m-label="Password" type="password" placeholder="Password" class="input">
        </div>
    </div>
</form>

For a more detailed discussion and additional examples, check out this post.

Changing the styling frameworks for Components

Answer №1

Answer №2

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