Styling Buttons with styled-jsx in Next.js

In our ongoing journey at itselftools.com, where we've developed over 30 projects using Next.js and Firebase, we've encountered and implemented a variety of ways to style applications effectively. One of the tools we frequently utilize in our Next.js projects for component-level styling is styled-jsx. This powerful CSS-in-JS library is tailor-made for Next.js and provides scoped styles without sacrificing performance. In this article, we will explore how to style a button using styled-jsx.

Code Explanation

To understand how styled-jsx works and how it can be applied to style a simple UI element like a button, let's look at the following code snippet:

import StyleSheet from 'styled-jsx/css'
export const buttonStyle = StyleSheet\
button {
  background-color: #0070f3;
  border: none;
  color: white;
  padding: 8px 16px;
  border-radius: 4px;
  cursor: pointer;
}
button:hover {
  background-color: #0056b3;
}

Breakdown

• Importing styled-jsx: We start by importing StyleSheet from styled-jsx/css, which is a module dedicated to defining scoped CSS styles.
• Defining Styles: The buttonStyle constant is where the CSS for a button is defined. Here’s what each property does:
  • background-color: Sets the button's default background color to a vivid blue (#0070f3).
  • border: Removes any border from the button, making it look cleaner.
  • color: Ensures that the text inside the button is white for better readability against the blue background.
  • padding: Adds padding inside the button for a better user interface.
  • border-radius: Rounds the corners of the button to give it a modern look.
  • cursor: Changes the cursor to a pointer when hovering over the button, indicating it's clickable.
  • :hover: A pseudo-class that changes the button's background color to a darker blue (#0056b1) when the mouse hovers over it.

Practical Application

Using styled-jsx for styling in Next.js not only helps in keeping styles scoped to the component but also precompiles styles to minimize runtime overhead. When you use styled-jsx, styles are injected at runtime and are scoped automatically to the markup rendering them, ensuring that styles do not leak to other elements of the application.

Conclusion

Styled-jsx provides a robust solution for managing CSS in your Next.js apps, ensuring that each component maintains its unique style sandbox. If you're interested in seeing styled-jsx in action, consider visiting some of our applications such as utilizing disposable email services, exploring online word searching tools, or experimenting with tools for screen recording. Each of these tools leverages modern web technologies to enhance user experience and functionality.