How to style components with CSS in React
Łukasz Holeczek
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Styling React components effectively is crucial for creating visually appealing and maintainable user interfaces in modern web applications.
As the creator of CoreUI, a widely used open-source UI library, I’ve implemented various CSS strategies across thousands of React components including buttons, forms, and complex dashboard layouts.
From my expertise, the most versatile approach is to use the className prop with external CSS files or CSS modules.
This method provides excellent separation of concerns, easy maintenance, and seamless integration with design systems and CSS preprocessors.
Use className prop with external CSS files for clean component styling and maintainability.
import './Button.css'
function Button({ children }) {
return <button className="btn btn-primary">{children}</button>
}
The className prop applies CSS classes to React elements, similar to the class attribute in HTML. Import CSS files at the component level to ensure styles are available when the component is used. CSS classes can be combined using template literals or libraries like classnames for conditional styling. This approach allows you to leverage existing CSS frameworks, use CSS preprocessors like SCSS, and maintain clear separation between styling and component logic.
Best Practice Note:
This is the same approach we use in CoreUI React components for consistent theming and easy customization.
Consider CSS modules with .module.css extension for component-scoped styles, or styled-components for CSS-in-JS solutions when building design systems.
