Styling React Using CSS
There are many ways to style React with CSS, this tutorial will take a closer look at three common ways:
- Inline styling
- CSS stylesheets
- CSS Modules
Inline Styling
To style an element with the inline style attribute, the value must be a JavaScript object:
Example:
Insert an object with the styling information:
const Header = () => {
return (
<>
<h1 style={{color: "red"}}>Hello Style!</h1>
<p>Add a little style!</p>
</>
);
}
Note: In JSX, JavaScript expressions are written inside curly braces, and since JavaScript objects also use curly braces, the styling in the example above is written inside two sets of curly braces {{}}.
camelCased Property Names
Since the inline CSS is written in a JavaScript object, properties with hyphen separators, like background-color, must be written with camel case syntax:
Example:
Use backgroundColor instead of background-color:
const Header = () => {
return (
<>
<h1 style={{backgroundColor: "lightblue"}}>Hello Style!</h1>
<p>Add a little style!</p>
</>
);
}
JavaScript Object
You can also create an object with styling information, and refer to it in the style attribute:
Example:
Create a style object named myStyle:
const Header = () => {
const myStyle = {
color: "white",
backgroundColor: "DodgerBlue",
padding: "10px",
fontFamily: "Sans-Serif"
};
return (
<>
<h1 style={myStyle}>Hello Style!</h1>
<p>Add a little style!</p>
</>
);
}
CSS Stylesheet
You can write your CSS styling in a separate file, just save the file with the .css file extension, and import it in your application.
App.css:
Create a new file called "App.css" and insert some CSS code in it:
body {
background-color: #282c34;
color: white;
padding: 40px;
font-family: Sans-Serif;
text-align: center;
}
Note: You can call the file whatever you like, just remember the correct file extension.
Import the stylesheet in your application:
index.js:
import React from 'react';
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom/client';
import './App.css';
const Header = () => {
return (
<>
<h1>Hello Style!</h1>
<p>Add a little style!.</p>
</>
);
}
const root = ReactDOM.createRoot(document.getElementById('root'));
root.render(<Header />);
CSS Modules
Another way of adding styles to your application is to use CSS Modules.
CSS Modules are convenient for components that are placed in separate files.
The CSS inside a module is available only for the component that imported it, and you do not have to worry about name conflicts.
Create the CSS module with the .module.css extension, example: my-style.module.css.
Create a new file called "my-style.module.css" and insert some CSS code in it:
my-style.module.css:
.bigblue {
color: DodgerBlue;
padding: 40px;
font-family: Sans-Serif;
text-align: center;
}
Import the stylesheet in your component:
Car.js:
import styles from './my-style.module.css';
const Car = () => {
return <h1 className={styles.bigblue}>Hello Car!</h1>;
}
export default Car;
Import the component in your application:
index.js:
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom/client';
import Car from './Car.js';
const root = ReactDOM.createRoot(document.getElementById('root'));
root.render(<Car />);
