storybook vs react-styleguidist vs react-cosmos
Component Development Tools for React Comparison
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storybookreact-styleguidistreact-cosmos
What's Component Development Tools for React?

Component development tools for React are essential for building, testing, and documenting UI components in isolation. They facilitate a better development workflow by allowing developers to visualize components, test their behavior, and create comprehensive documentation. These tools enhance collaboration among team members and ensure consistency in design and functionality across applications. By providing a dedicated environment for component development, they help in identifying issues early in the development process, ultimately leading to more robust applications.

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storybook7,050,81287,00931.8 MB2,1882 days agoMIT
react-styleguidist76,71011,004420 kB2425 months agoMIT
react-cosmos18,301-112 kB-11 days agoMIT
Feature Comparison: storybook vs react-styleguidist vs react-cosmos

Component Isolation

  • storybook:

    Storybook excels in component isolation by providing a dedicated environment for each component. It allows developers to interact with components in various states, making it easier to test and visualize their behavior without the overhead of the entire application.

  • react-styleguidist:

    React Styleguidist focuses on creating a style guide that showcases components in isolation. It allows developers to see components rendered with example props and provides a clear context for usage, which is beneficial for both development and documentation.

  • react-cosmos:

    React Cosmos allows you to develop components in isolation by rendering them with various props and states. This helps in visualizing how components behave under different conditions, making it easier to identify issues and improve component design.

Documentation

  • storybook:

    Storybook provides comprehensive documentation capabilities, allowing developers to write stories that describe component usage. It supports Markdown and can integrate with various documentation tools, making it a versatile choice for documenting components.

  • react-styleguidist:

    React Styleguidist is designed specifically for documentation, providing an easy way to create a living style guide. It supports Markdown for writing documentation alongside components, making it straightforward to maintain and update.

  • react-cosmos:

    React Cosmos offers minimal built-in documentation features but allows for custom documentation through its UI. It is primarily focused on component testing and visualization rather than extensive documentation.

Ecosystem and Community Support

  • storybook:

    Storybook has a large and active community, with a wealth of plugins and add-ons available. Its extensive ecosystem makes it easy to extend functionality and integrate with other tools, providing a robust development experience.

  • react-styleguidist:

    React Styleguidist has a moderate level of community support and offers some plugins for enhancing functionality. It is less popular than Storybook but still provides essential features for creating style guides.

  • react-cosmos:

    React Cosmos has a smaller community compared to Storybook, which may limit the availability of plugins and integrations. However, it is still a powerful tool for component testing and development.

Learning Curve

  • storybook:

    Storybook is known for its user-friendly interface and extensive documentation, making it easy for developers to get started. The learning curve is gentle, and its rich feature set allows for gradual exploration of advanced capabilities.

  • react-styleguidist:

    React Styleguidist is relatively easy to learn, especially for those familiar with React. Its straightforward setup and documentation make it accessible for developers looking to create style guides quickly.

  • react-cosmos:

    React Cosmos has a moderate learning curve, especially for developers who are new to component-driven development. Its focus on testing and visualization may require some time to fully grasp all features.

Integration with Build Tools

  • storybook:

    Storybook offers excellent integration with a wide range of build tools and frameworks. Its extensive documentation provides clear guidance on setting up Storybook in various environments, making it a versatile choice for developers.

  • react-styleguidist:

    React Styleguidist is designed to integrate seamlessly with React projects and can be easily configured with popular build tools like Webpack. Its setup process is straightforward, making it a good choice for quick integration.

  • react-cosmos:

    React Cosmos integrates well with existing React projects and can be set up alongside various build tools. However, it may require some manual configuration for optimal use in larger projects.

How to Choose: storybook vs react-styleguidist vs react-cosmos
  • storybook:

    Opt for Storybook if you want a widely adopted and feature-rich tool for developing UI components in isolation. It provides a robust ecosystem with add-ons for accessibility testing, performance monitoring, and more. Storybook's extensive community support and integration capabilities make it a go-to choice for many React developers.

  • react-styleguidist:

    Select React Styleguidist if your primary goal is to create a living style guide for your components. It is perfect for documenting components with examples and usage guidelines, making it easier for designers and developers to collaborate. It also supports Markdown for documentation, enhancing clarity and communication.

  • react-cosmos:

    Choose React Cosmos if you need a tool that focuses on creating a comprehensive and interactive component library. It is particularly useful for testing components in isolation and allows for easy integration with existing projects. Its unique feature of rendering components in various states makes it ideal for complex UIs.

Similar Npm Packages to storybook

storybook is an open-source tool for developing UI components in isolation for React, Vue, Angular, and other frameworks. It allows developers to create and showcase components independently from the application, making it easier to build, test, and document UI elements. With Storybook, you can visualize different states of each component, which helps in ensuring consistency and reusability across your application. It also supports addons that enhance its capabilities, such as accessibility checks, performance monitoring, and more.

While Storybook is a powerful tool for component development, there are alternatives available that cater to similar needs. One notable alternative is:

  • react-styleguidist. This library is specifically designed for React components and provides a way to create a living style guide for your application. It allows developers to document components, showcase their usage, and provide examples in a user-friendly interface. React Styleguidist focuses on creating a style guide that can be easily integrated into your development workflow, making it a great choice for teams looking to maintain a consistent design language across their projects. It also supports hot reloading, so you can see changes in real-time as you develop your components.

To compare Storybook and React Styleguidist, check out the following link: Comparing react-styleguidist vs storybook.

Similar Npm Packages to react-styleguidist

react-styleguidist is a development environment and documentation tool for React components. It allows developers to create a living style guide for their components, showcasing their usage, variations, and documentation in an interactive manner. This tool is particularly useful for teams working on large React applications, as it helps maintain consistency and provides a clear reference for component usage. With features like hot reloading, customizable templates, and support for Markdown documentation, react-styleguidist makes it easy to document and demonstrate components in real-time.

An alternative to react-styleguidist is storybook. Storybook is another popular tool for developing and documenting UI components in isolation. It provides a robust environment for building components independently from the main application, allowing developers to visualize different states and variations of components. Storybook supports a wide range of frameworks beyond React, including Vue, Angular, and more, making it a versatile choice for teams working with multiple technologies. With features like addons for accessibility, testing, and performance, Storybook enhances the component development workflow and fosters collaboration among team members.

To see how react-styleguidist compares with Storybook, check out the comparison: Comparing react-styleguidist vs storybook.

Similar Npm Packages to react-cosmos

react-cosmos is a development tool for building and testing React components in isolation. It provides a powerful environment for creating component libraries and showcases, allowing developers to visualize and interact with their components without the need for a full application context. This can significantly enhance the development process, making it easier to spot issues and iterate on designs. React Cosmos supports a wide range of features, including customizable UI, automatic props generation, and integration with various testing frameworks.

While React Cosmos is a robust solution for component development, there are several alternatives in the ecosystem that also cater to similar needs. Here are a few notable ones:

  • react-styleguidist is a style guide generator for React components. It allows developers to create a living style guide that showcases components in isolation, complete with documentation and examples. React Styleguidist is particularly useful for teams looking to maintain a consistent design system and provides a straightforward way to document components alongside their usage. It supports Markdown documentation, making it easy to write and maintain component descriptions and usage guidelines.

  • storybook is another popular tool for developing UI components in isolation. It provides a comprehensive environment for building, testing, and documenting components, with a wide array of add-ons and integrations. Storybook allows developers to create stories for each component, showcasing different states and variations, which can be extremely helpful for visual testing and collaboration within teams. Its extensive community and ecosystem make it a go-to choice for many developers looking to create component libraries.

To see how react-cosmos compares with react-styleguidist and storybook, check out the comparison: Comparing react-cosmos vs react-styleguidist vs storybook.

README for storybook

Storybook Core

The @storybook/core package is the core of Storybook. It is responsible for the following:

  • the main UI of storybook
  • the UI used by addons
  • the API used by addons
  • the API used by the CLI
  • the API used by the server
  • prebundled code used by the browser
  • static assets used by the browser
  • utilities for CSF, MDX & Docs

Private package

This package is not intended to be used by anyone but storybook internally.

Even though this is where all of the code is located, it is NOT to be the entry point when using functionality within!

Consumers of the code should import like so:

import { addons } from 'storybook/manager-api';

Importing from @storybook/core is explicitly NOT supported; it WILL break in a future version of storybook, very likely in a non-major version bump.

For maintainers

When to use @storybook/core

In the following packages you should import from @storybook/core (and ONLY from @storybook/core):

  • @storybook/core
  • @storybook/codemod

To prevent cyclical dependencies, these packages cannot depend on the storybook package.

When to use storybook/internal

In every other package you should import from storybook/internal (and ONLY from storybook/internal).

The heuristic is simple:

If you see a peerDependency on storybook in the package.json of the package you are working on, you should import from storybook/internal.

The 1 exception: the storybook package itself

The sole exception is the storybook package itself.

Obviously, the storybook package cannot depend on itself, so it must import from @storybook/core.

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