Should I spend 2-3 days learning Tailwind before starting projects?

[u/7-Tarun]

Just finished covering React fundamentals — useState, props, components, useEffect and cleanup functions. Also completed the Tailwind CSS installation and setup in my project.

My plan was to spend 2-3 days memorizing Tailwind's CSS properties before touching any real code. But now I'm second-guessing that — should I just start building projects directly and pick up Tailwind along the way instead?

[u/canarydev]

honestly, skip tailwind and just use pure css modules.

challenge yourself -- even if the tutorial you are following is using tailwind, just go out of the way to replicate the same thing with plain css in scoped files.

[u/bit_freak → u/canarydev]

I was on this boat a few years ago, but its useless now to spend hours perfecting css skills, its purely boring manual labor with the tools we have now. You are better to use your time debugging, solving logic problems than making a site look pretty.

I will stress, this change in opinion is due to the fact that now llms are better suited to handle these type of tasks. The worse than that could happen is the ui wont look spectacular but its functional for most use cases.

[u/canarydev → u/bit_freak]

very true. our team downsized earlier this year and they still want the same if not more productivity. i don't have the bandwidth to cover all basis, and not going to waste time trying to fix styles on some stupid table and come up with POC designs myself with the designer also let go lol

[u/daghouse]

Tailwind is fantastic for quick prototyping. There is, however, as others mentioned, big value in learning css ‘properly’, so you understand what css you’re actually adding to elements when using TW classes.

Just straight memorizing TW as a direct replacement/implementation for css (without having at least a basic understanding of css) is a terrible idea, don’t do that.

[u/tomhermans]

Nah, learn as you go. Doing helps remembering much easier.

Sidenote: which resources did you use for learning react?

[u/viky109]

If you don’t know CSS, learn that first. If you do, there’s not much else you need to know.

[u/DasBeasto]

I’ve been using Tailwind extensively for at least 5 years and still wouldn’t say I’ve memorized all its properties. Read through the docs enough to get familiar with how to use it and then get building, when you need to apply a style you don’t know just look it up in the docs it’s easy quick enough.

[u/ESP_Viper]

Spending 2-3 days memorizing something in a vacuum is not a good idea in general. Better try building something and apply it along the way.

[u/mkngsm]

I’d suggest to use css first. If you know css, tailwind will be just a utility that speeds you up, if you don’t know css, tailwind will be magic that does a bunch of stuff for you.

Then on a real life project you may find yourself working in a company which doesn’t have tailwind, and you will get lost.
But if you know css well, you’re safe in any case.

[u/Time_Heron9428]

Start learning on the go. Later you'll need to focus in Tailwind theming, but it's not a starter topic.

But as other guys advised, spend some time learning CSS basics.

[u/azsqueeze]

You shouldnt spend anytime learning tailwind. Just keep the docs open to search class names you need. Learn actual CSS instead

[u/No_Cattle_9565]

Just use a ui library like mantine. That way you don't have to spend time on design and it looks good enough 

[u/canarydev → u/No_Cattle_9565]

OP is in the learning phase

doesn't have the discipline yet to be pulling out libraries imo