Building a Component Library with MUI A Comprehensive Analysis

// Quick to implement complex components
import { Card, CardContent, Typography, Button } from '@mui/material'

const ProductCard = ({ title, description, price }) => (
  <Card>
    <CardContent>
      <Typography variant="h5">{title}</Typography>
      <Typography variant="body2">{description}</Typography>
      <Typography variant="h6">${price}</Typography>
      <Button variant="contained">Add to Cart</Button>
    </CardContent>
  </Card>
)

// Powerful theming capabilities
import { createTheme, ThemeProvider } from '@mui/material'

const theme = createTheme({
  palette: {
    primary: {
      main: '#1976d2',
      light: '#42a5f5',
      dark: '#1565c0',
    },
    secondary: {
      main: '#9c27b0',
    },
  },
  typography: {
    fontFamily: 'Roboto, Arial, sans-serif',
    h1: {
      fontSize: '2.5rem',
      fontWeight: 500,
    },
  },
  components: {
    MuiButton: {
      styleOverrides: {
        root: {
          borderRadius: 8,
        },
      },
    },
  },
})

// Built-in responsive utilities
import { Box } from '@mui/material'

const ResponsiveLayout = () => (
  <Box
    sx={{
      display: { xs: 'block', md: 'flex' },
      padding: { xs: 2, sm: 3, md: 4 },
      width: { xs: '100%', sm: '90%', md: '80%' },
    }}
  >
    {/* Content */}
  </Box>
)

// Many accessibility features out of the box
import { TextField, FormControlLabel, Switch } from '@mui/material'

const AccessibleForm = () => (
  <form>
    <TextField
      id="email"
      label="Email"
      aria-describedby="email-helper-text"
      helperText="Enter your email address"
    />
    <FormControlLabel control={<Switch />} label="Enable notifications" />
  </form>
)

// Large bundle size when importing components
// Bad practice (imports entire library)
import { Button } from '@mui/material'

// Better practice (but still adds base dependencies)
import Button from '@mui/material/Button'

// Bundle size example:
/*
Base MUI package: ~300KB (minified)
Each component: additional 20-50KB
Emotion (required dependency): ~40KB
*/

// Complex customization with nested styles
const CustomButton = styled(Button)(({ theme }) => ({
  background: theme.palette.primary.main,
  '&:hover': {
    background: theme.palette.primary.dark,
    '& .MuiButton-startIcon': {
      transform: 'scale(1.1)',
    },
  },
  '& .MuiButton-endIcon': {
    marginLeft: theme.spacing(2),
    [theme.breakpoints.down('sm')]: {
      display: 'none',
    },
  },
}))

// Each styled component creates a new CSS class
const StyledComponent = styled('div')(({ theme }) => ({
  // This creates runtime CSS injection
  padding: theme.spacing(2),
  margin: theme.spacing(1),
}))

// Multiple instances can lead to CSS bloat
const MultipleInstances = () => (
  <>
    {Array.from({ length: 100 }).map((_, i) => (
      <StyledComponent key={i} />
    ))}
  </>
)

// Mixing custom and MUI components can lead to inconsistency
const CustomCard = ({ children }) => (
  <div className="custom-card">
    {' '}
    // Non-MUI component
    <Typography variant="h6">
      {' '}
      // MUI component
      {children}
    </Typography>
    <button className="custom-button"> // Non-MUI button Click me</button>
    <Button variant="contained"> // MUI button Submit</Button>
  </div>
)

// Quick implementation of complex features
const CompleteForm = () => (
  <Paper elevation={3}>
    <TextField label="Name" />
    <DatePicker label="Date" />
    <Autocomplete options={options} />
    <DataGrid rows={rows} columns={columns} />
  </Paper>
)

// Enterprise-ready components
const DashboardLayout = () => (
  <Box sx={{ display: 'flex' }}>
    <AppBar position="fixed" />
    <Drawer variant="permanent" />
    <Container maxWidth="lg">
      <DataGrid rows={rows} columns={columns} checkboxSelection filterModel={filterModel} />
    </Container>
  </Box>
)

// When designs deviate significantly from Material Design
const CustomUIComponent = () => (
  // Requires extensive overrides
  <Button
    sx={{
      background: 'linear-gradient(...)',
      borderRadius: '50px',
      padding: '20px 40px',
      // Many overrides needed
    }}
  />
)

// When performance is crucial
const HighPerformanceList = () => {
  // Better to use pure CSS/custom components
  return (
    <div className="virtual-list">
      <VirtualizedList rowCount={10000} rowHeight={50} overscanCount={5} />
    </div>
  )
}

// Using MUI selectively with custom components
const HybridComponent = () => {
  return (
    <CustomContainer>
      <TextField /> {/* MUI for form elements */}
      <CustomButton>
        {' '}
        {/* Custom for specific designs */}
        Submit
      </CustomButton>
    </CustomContainer>
  )
}

// Using lighter alternatives for specific components
import { Button } from '@radix-ui/react-button'
import { styled } from '@stitches/react'

const StyledButton = styled(Button, {
  // Custom styles without MUI overhead
})