Fela is a high-performance, framework-agnostic styling library for React and other JavaScript frameworks. It follows a functional CSS approach, where styles are generated dynamically based on props and state, resulting in a more maintainable and scalable styling solution. Fela offers features like theming, keyframe animations, and server-side rendering support.
Tachyons is a functional CSS framework that focuses on creating fast, responsive, and scalable user interfaces. It provides a set of atomic CSS classes that can be easily combined to style elements without writing custom CSS. Tachyons promotes a mobile-first approach and emphasizes simplicity and consistency in design.
Both Fela and Tachyons are popular npm packages in the front-end development community. However, Tachyons has gained more widespread popularity due to its simplicity and ease of use.
Styling Approach
Fela is a powerful and flexible CSS-in-JS library that allows you to write your styles using JavaScript. It provides a highly modular and composable approach to styling, making it suitable for complex and scalable applications. Tachyons, on the other hand, is a functional CSS framework that provides pre-defined utility classes for styling. It follows a more declarative approach and is ideal for rapid prototyping and small to medium-sized projects.
Customization
Fela offers extensive customization options, allowing you to define your own style rules and create reusable style components. It provides advanced features like theming, dynamic styling, and media queries. Tachyons, on the other hand, provides a fixed set of utility classes that can be combined to create different styles. While it offers some customization options, it may not be as flexible as Fela.
Performance
Fela is known for its excellent performance. It generates atomic CSS classes at build time, resulting in minimal CSS output and efficient rendering. Tachyons, being a functional CSS framework, also promotes a performance-oriented approach by encouraging the use of small utility classes. Both libraries are designed to be lightweight and have good performance characteristics.
Learning Curve
Fela has a steeper learning curve compared to Tachyons. It requires understanding the concepts of CSS-in-JS and may take some time to get familiar with its API and patterns. Tachyons, on the other hand, has a shallow learning curve as it relies on pre-defined utility classes that can be easily applied to HTML elements.
Community and Ecosystem
Both Fela and Tachyons have active communities and ecosystems. Fela has a dedicated community and offers integration with popular frameworks like React and Vue.js. It also provides plugins and extensions for additional functionality. Tachyons, on the other hand, has a larger community and a wide range of resources and examples available. It has been adopted by many developers and has a strong presence in the front-end development community.