Angular/Ionic, React, Vue? Future-proof Your App with Stencil.js!

In the fast-paced world of front-end development, it can feel like the ground is constantly shifting beneath your feet. Frameworks and libraries rise and fall in popularity, leaving developers to wonder if their skills and codebases will still be relevant in a year or two.

But what if there was a way to build UI components that could stand the test of time? Components that didn‘t depend on any one framework, but could be used in any of them? Components that were based on web standards, ensuring their compatibility and performance for years to come?

Enter Stencil.js – a "compiler for building reusable, scalable design systems" from the Ionic team. Stencil provides a way to create standard web components using modern tools like TypeScript, JSX, and Virtual DOM. The result is a cross-framework component library that works seamlessly with Angular, React, Vue, or no framework at all.

How Stencil Works

At its core, Stencil is a compiler that generates web components (more specifically, Custom Elements) from TypeScript and JSX code. It‘s not a framework itself, but rather a tool for building framework-agnostic components.

Here‘s a quick overview of the Stencil build process:

1. Components are authored in TSX files (TypeScript + JSX) and decorated with @Component()
2. Stencil‘s compiler analyzes and builds each component
3. Output targets (e.g. Angular, React, Vue, Ember) determine the final component format
4. The compiled components are imported into your project

By focusing solely on the creation of standard web components, Stencil can make some powerful optimizations at build time. This includes dead code elimination, lazy-loading, and more. The result is highly performant components with a minimal runtime footprint.

Some key features of Stencil include:

• Virtual DOM rendering for efficient updates
• Asynchronous rendering via the @method() decorator
• Lazy-loading on a per-component basis
• Simple pre-rendering for faster initial paint
• TypeScript decorators like @prop(), @state(), @listen()
• JSX for familiar, declarative component authoring

Stencil vs. The Big Three

So how does Stencil stack up against the most popular front-end frameworks? Let‘s take a look:

Stencil vs. Angular

Angular is a full-featured framework that provides a lot of functionality out of the box, including a robust CLI, dependency injection, and a powerful template syntax. This can be great for large, complex applications, but it also comes with a steeper learning curve and a larger runtime footprint.

Stencil, on the other hand, is a more focused tool for building components. It doesn‘t prescribe application structure or provide a framework-level feature set. This makes Stencil components easier to adopt incrementally and integrate into existing projects.

Performance-wise, Stencil has some advantages. Because it generates pure web components, there‘s no framework overhead. Stencil components can also be lazily loaded, reducing initial bundle size. In a recent benchmark, Stencil outperformed Angular in startup time and memory usage.

Stencil vs. React

React and Stencil actually have a lot in common. Both use JSX for declarative component authoring, and both leverage a Virtual DOM for efficient rendering. However, there are some key differences.

React components require the React runtime to function. This means that even if you build your components in React, you still need to ship the React library to your users. Stencil components, on the other hand, are self-contained and don‘t have any runtime dependencies.

This architectural difference also means that while Stencil components can be used in a React application, React components cannot be used in a Stencil application without the React runtime.

From a performance standpoint, Stencil again has an edge due to its lack of a runtime. In the same benchmark mentioned earlier, Stencil beat out React in both startup time and memory usage.

Stencil vs. Vue

Like React, Vue also has a component-based architecture. However, Vue tends to favor template-based syntax while Stencil aligns more with the JSX approach of defining markup in code.

As with React, Stencil components can be integrated into a Vue application, but Vue components cannot be used directly in Stencil due to their reliance on the Vue runtime.

Performance-wise, Vue and Stencil are quite close, with Stencil slightly ahead in the custom elements benchmark. However, Vue‘s template-based approach may be more approachable for developers coming from an HTML background.

Stencil in the Real World

Stencil is more than just a promising technology – it‘s already being used in production by some of the biggest names in tech. Here are a few notable examples:

• Apple uses Stencil for the Apple Music web app and the iCloud web app
• Microsoft uses Stencil for the new Microsoft Office UI
• Porsche uses Stencil for the My Porsche app and website
• Electronic Arts uses Stencil for creating game UI components

One of the biggest Stencil success stories is Ionic itself. The popular mobile UI toolkit recently rewrote all of its components using Stencil, allowing them to be used across a variety of frameworks.

Here‘s what the Ionic team had to say about the transition:

Moving to Stencil has been a big win for us. Not only are our components more performant, but they‘re now framework-agnostic. This means we can reach a much wider audience and ensure Ionic‘s longevity regardless of framework trends.

Building a Design System with Stencil

One of the most compelling use cases for Stencil is building a reusable design system. By creating a library of Stencil components, you can ensure consistency and promote reuse across your organization‘s UIs.

Here are some tips for building a successful Stencil design system:

1. Define a clear component API. Your components should have a well-defined and documented API. This includes props, events, methods, and slots. Use TypeScript to provide strong typing and catch errors early.

2. Consider cross-cutting concerns. Your design system will likely need to handle things like theming, localization, accessibility, and responsiveness. Consider how these concerns will be handled at the component level.

3. Provide great documentation. A design system is only useful if people know how to use it. Invest time in creating clear, comprehensive documentation with plenty of examples.

4. Automate testing and releases. Your design system components should be thoroughly tested to ensure their quality and reliability. Automate your testing and release process to make it easy to push out updates.

5. Foster a community. A design system is as much about people as it is about code. Foster a community around your design system by involving stakeholders, gathering feedback, and promoting adoption.

By following these guidelines and leveraging Stencil‘s component model, you can create a design system that is scalable, maintainable, and long-lasting.

The Future of Web Components and Stencil

Web components are still a relatively new technology, but they are rapidly gaining traction. All modern browsers now have native support for custom elements and shadow DOM, and performance is continually improving.

As for Stencil, the future looks bright. The team is actively working on new features and optimizations, including:

• Improved server-side rendering support
• Automatic code splitting and lazy loading
• Better integration with popular tools and frameworks

Of course, no technology is without its challenges. Web components can be more verbose than framework-specific components, and they may lack some of the advanced features and niceties provided by full-fledged frameworks.

However, for organizations looking to create truly future-proof UI components, Stencil is a compelling option. Its emphasis on standards, performance, and simplicity make it a solid foundation for building UIs that can stand the test of time.

Conclusion

In the ever-changing landscape of front-end development, it‘s tempting to chase after the latest and greatest frameworks. However, building with web standards is the best way to ensure your code‘s longevity and interoperability.

Stencil provides a powerful way to leverage web standards while still enjoying the benefits of modern tooling and techniques. Whether you‘re building a design system, a component library, or a complete application, Stencil is worth considering.

By generating standard web components, Stencil allows you to create reusable, performant UI pieces that can be used across your organization and across frameworks. This write once, use anywhere approach can save countless hours and ensure consistency in your UIs.

Most importantly, by betting on web standards, you‘re future-proofing your work. While frameworks may come and go, the fundamentals of the web remain the same. With Stencil, you can build on these fundamentals to create UIs that will stand the test of time.