Building a component library requires clarifying the goals and scenarios, formulating specifications, building processes, and improving documents. 1. Clarify the target users of the component library (such as teams, product lines, open source communities), applicable platforms (Web, mobile terminals), and whether they support theme customization, internationalization and other functions, which will affect technology selection and architecture design. 2. Formulate naming specifications (such as PascalCase), unified directory structure (component separate folders include index.tsx, style.scss, README.md), determine style schemes (CSS Modules, Tailwind, SCSS), and document standards (examples, props instructions, precautions). 3. Establish development and construction process: Local development supports hot updates (Vite or Storybook), packaging tools support ESM/CJS output format and on-demand loading (Rollup, Webpack), version management uses semantic-release or manual distribution, and the release method is npm or private repository. 4. The document must include basic usage, code examples, props tables, status display (loading, disabled), and precautions. You can use Storybook to automatically generate demos, combine Docsify or Docusaurus to build an independent document site, and provide a quick guide to getting started in README.

To put it bluntly, component library is to manage commonly used UI components in a unified manner to facilitate reuse, maintenance and collaboration. If you want to build a reliable component library, you don’t just put a few buttons and input boxes together. You have to start with the structure, specifications, and tool chains.

1. Define the objectives and usage scenarios of the component library

Before you start writing the first component, ask yourself a few questions:

• Who is this component library for? Front-end team? Product line? Or an open source community?
• Which platforms are covered? Web? Mobile? Or multi-terminal?
• Do you need to support advanced functions such as theme customization and internationalization?

These issues determine whether your component library should have complex functions, and also affect subsequent technical selection and architectural design.

For example, if you are just building a component library for internal projects, you may not need to consider too much configurability; but if it is shared by multiple product lines, you need to consider modularity and scalability.

2. Formulate basic specifications and design principles

A component library without specifications is like a dish of loose sand. You need to establish basic rules from the following aspects:

• Naming specification : Component names should have a unified style. For example, Button , PrimaryButton , and Btn are not very unified. It is recommended to be unified as PascalCase.
• Directory structure : Each component has a separate folder, including index.tsx, style.scss, README.md, etc.
• Style scheme : Is it CSS Modules, Tailwind or SCSS? Are global styles allowed?
• Documentation standards : Each component must have examples, props instructions, and precautions.

For example, if you do not specify how components are exported, some components may be exported by default, and some may be exported by name, which will be very confusing when others use them.

3. Build development and construction processes

It’s not enough to have components alone, it’s necessary to make it easy for others to use. This requires a complete development and release process:

• Local development environment : It is best to support hot updates, which can be built on Vite or Storybook.
• Packaging tools : Rollup and Webpack are both OK, the key is the output format (ESM, CJS) and on-demand loading support.
• Version management : Use semantic-release or manually release the version to ensure that there is a changelog for each update.
• Publishing method : It is generally published to npm, or it can be a private repository.

You can first set up the simplest process:

• Use Storybook to write component demos during development
• Use Rollup to output dist files when packaging
• Use npm publish to push to registry when publishing

4. Documents and examples cannot be sloppy

Is the component library easy to use, and documents account for half of it. Good documentation should include:

• Basic usage and code examples
• props form description
• Display in different states (such as loading, disabled)
• Notes or common mistakes

You can use Storybook to automatically generate some demos, or you can use Docsify or Docusaurus to create an independent document site.

A tip: put a "Quick Start" paragraph directly in README to tell others how to install, import and use the first component so that newcomers can get started faster.

Basically that's it. Building a component library doesn't seem difficult, but when you really do it, you will find that many details are easily overlooked, such as version conflicts, dependency management, cross-project references and other issues. However, as long as there is a clear direction and specification at the beginning, it will be much better to iterate slowly later.

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