How ShadCN is better than AndD

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In the world of web development, selecting the right UI framework is crucial for building efficient, maintainable, and visually appealing applications. For a long time, Ant Design (AntD) has been a go-to choice for developers due to its robust component library, ease of use, and extensive documentation. However, ShadCN, is gaining attention for its innovative approach to design and development in this field. This blog post explores how ShadCN stands out compared to Ant Design, with examples. For information about blockchain and cryptocurrency, visit our blockchain development services. 

What is Ant Design?

Ant Design, developed by Alibaba, is a React UI library that offers a wide range of pre-designed components. It's well-known for its comprehensive documentation, large community, and extensive ecosystem. AntD provides a ready-to-use solution for large applications, making it popular among developers looking for a mature, stable framework. 

What is ShadCN?

ShadCN is a relatively new UI library designed with a focus on modern web standards, modularity, and customization. Unlike Ant Design, ShadCN is not just a collection of UI components but a framework that emphasizes building highly customizable and lightweight UI components using modern CSS like Tailwind CSS.

Customization and Theming

Ant Design 

AntD offers theming options, but the framework's preset design language limits them. To customize themes in AntD, you often need to override CSS variables or write your own styles. This can sometimes result in design inconsistencies. 

ShadCN 

ShadCN, on the other hand, is designed to be customized. It uses Tailwind CSS, a CSS framework that lets developers add styles right in their JSX. This means you can style things more and flexibly making it simpler to create custom themes without fighting against existing styles.

Example

// Ant Design: Custom Button with Theme
<Button style={{ backgroundColor: '#4CAF50', borderColor: '#4CAF50', color: '#fff' }}>
 Custom AntD Button
</Button>

// ShadCN: Custom Button with Tailwind
<button className="bg-green-500 border-green-500 text-white py-2 px-4 rounded">
Custom ShadCN Button
</button>

In this example, ShadCN's use of Tailwind classes makes it easy to apply custom styles directly within the component, This approach helps avoid clashes with existing styles.

Performance

Ant Design

AntD is known for its extensive component library, but this can also be a shortcoming in implementation. Adding AntD to your implementation means importing a number of styles and components, some of which you may not use. This increases the size of the bundle and can lengthen the load time.

ShadCN

ShadCN promotes a more modular approach, where only the necessary components and processes are part of the project. This makes bundle size smaller and more efficient, especially for larger applications. Using the Tailwind utility classes further reduces the need for additional CSS, allowing for faster rendering times.

Flexibility in Design

Ant Design

AntD provides a consistent design language that is great for maintaining equality across applications. However, sometimes these conventions can be limiting, especially for developers looking to implement unique or non-standard designs.

ShadCN

ShadCN provides great design flexibility by allowing developers to easily create custom components. Using this first approach means it's not limited to pre-defined methods or objects, and gives you the freedom to create a truly unique user interface.

Example

// Ant Design: Standard Card Component
<Card title="AntD Card" style={{ width: 300 }}>
 <p>Card content</p>
</Card>

// ShadCN: Custom Card Component
<div className="p-4 max-w-sm bg-white rounded-lg shadow-md">
 <h2 className="text-xl font-bold">ShadCN Card</h2>
 <p>Card content</p>
</div>

With ShadCN, the design and structure of components like cards are fully in your control, allowing for more creative and customized layouts.

Learning Curve and Community Support

Ant Design

AntD has a large community. Its extensive documentation and ready-to-use features make it easy for new developers to get started quickly. But the learning curve can still be overwhelming for those unfamiliar with its structure or customization methods.

ShadCN

ShadCN, while relatively new, benefits from being built on top of Tailwind CSS, which has a large and growing community. Tailwind's usability-first approach is intuitive once understood, and the flexibility it offers can make development more appealing for those who prefer a manual approach to styling. 

Integration with Modern Development Practices

Ant Design

AntD is a powerful tool, but its design and layout reflect old web development paradigms. While it supports React and other modern JavaScript frameworks, integration with more recent practices, such as CSS-in-JS or utility-first CSS, can be difficult.

ShadCN

ShadCN is designed with modern development practices in mind. It seamlessly integrates with Tailwind CSS, which is widely regarded as the most modern and efficient way to develop applications. Additionally, ShadCN's modular approach makes it easy to integrate into modern JavaScript libraries/frameworks, including React and Next.js.

Conclusion

Both ShadCN and Ant Design have their merits, but ShadCN shines in areas where modern web development practices and optimization are a priority. While Ant Design is still a solid choice for developers looking for a mature, robust UI design with a comprehensive component library, ShadCN offers a simple, lightweight, and modern alternative for Tailwind CSS they provide the tools ShadCN developers need to create unique, functional, and highly customizable user interfaces. If you are working on a project that requires high performance, a modern approach to CSS, and the flexibility to design custom UI components, then ShadCN might just be right for you. On the other hand , if you need a tested system with detailed documentation and community support, Ant Design remains one is a strong. 

Ultimately, choosing between ShadCN and Ant Design depends on the specific needs of your project, your team's knowledge of the framework, and your long-term vision for application design and deployment. If you are looking to hire blockchain developers to develop your project, explore our diverse talent pool.