Is it worth learning a CSS Framework?
I'm self taught and have been coding for a couples years now and feel super comfortable just using vanilla CSS. Sometimes I run into very specific issues and ask someone for help and they just say I should use Bootstrap or something similar, and they can't help me. From the outside it seems like people who only use CSS frameworks don't have the base knowledge of CSS and can't problem solve smaller problems without their framework. My philosophy when first learning was to thoroughly learn everything in it's natural, vanilla state first, and then maybe move to frameworks if it was worth it.
What is everyone else's experience? At this point I'm debating if it's worth using up my brain's RAM and Memory to learn a CSS framework or if it's irrelevant since I'm more than proficient in vanilla CSS. lol. Thanks for the help!!
19 Replies
wow, people saying "use bootstrap" in 2025 ... wow
it's great for prototyping something, but has been dead for years
you got the right mind set
learn whatever your job or future job needs. or if you're just working by yourself use whatever you like most that gets the job done
the question for "should you learn a frameowkr" is "do you need to solve an issue"?
(btw, finding a job is "an issue")
Yeah, like, I learned React, Vite, Express, and stuff that is so commonly needed for jobs nowadays but CSS frameworks seem like it's just fluff to me. Like if I know vanilla CSS well I should be able to just pick up a CSS framework and get it if a job needed me to know it? Is that the correct way of thinking? or no?
well, tailwind seems to be the best way to get css in react, apparently ...
so, in that case, learning doesn't hurt
I've heard a lot of people mention Tailwind. Seems to be very popular. But is it something that if I rely on will it make me lazy with my css knowledge?
I go to coding meet ups and the younger generation seems so reliant on frameworks and ai that no one can answer the simple vanilla questions pretaining to js, html, css it seems.. and it kind of scared me away from jumping into too many frameworks or dependencies
well, imagine this: instead of putting your styles in a css file, you write everything in classes on every single element you want to style
if you have to change the font size, you use a class
change the color? another class
a background? another class
Interesting 🤔
until you start to need to use pseudo-elements, then it's a clursterfuck bomb that exploded in a china shop
oh, and if you need custom values, you can add them directly as classes or configure tailwind to have those values
Gotcha interesting
interesting concept indeed
but the execution is like walking with 2 left feet while wearing 2 right shoes
So what's the advantage? Less redundancy in code?
no: easier to use in react compared to css
Oh interesting. I've never had any issues with css in react
some people just don't like the ergonomics of it
Basic CSS and state management you can do almost anything
that's why there's barbaric stuff like ... css-in-js 🤢
haha
Well I appreciate the info. I'll probably just familiarize myself with tailwind but keep it vanilla for the time being
i'm not sure about this, but i think tailwind has auto-complete and type safety in react, so, that's another reason to use it in react
that's a good idea