mui-toolpad VS mantine

This seems to mainly be useful for spinning up quick and dirty internal tools.

But for that use-case, isn't it easier to use something visual and established like Retool (https://retool.com/) or that generates nice react code, like MUI Toolpad (https://mui.com/toolpad/)?

How does it stack up against MUI's Toolpad? (https://mui.com/toolpad/)

All things considered, they seem pretty similar - visual UI to generate React code that works alongside existing codebase, open-source & self-hostable, etc.

- All configuration is stored in local files which you can version-control, edit, and deploy in any way you want.

You can check out our live demo [1]. If you find it useful, you can support us by giving a star on GitHub [2]. We released our public beta [3] this week. We are happy to answer any questions/feedback in the comments.

[1]: https://stackblitz.com/fork/github/mui/mui-toolpad/tree/mast...

[2]: https://github.com/mui/mui-toolpad

[3]: https://mui.com/blog/2023-toolpad-beta-announcement/

- Vercel for hosting, because they take a Git repo and host it for you in a couple clicks and manage everything. Free or cheap ($20/mo) at MVP stage.

- Next.js (Vercel's open-source React framework) will handle frontend tooling, routing, type checking, and linting for you with a single command (`npx create-next-app`). Starting the server is one more command (`next dev`) and your page is up and running.

- For the UI layer, I'd recommend either starting with one of their prebuilt templates (https://vercel.com/templates/next.js) and modifying it as needed

OR using a modern component system like https://mui.com/ or https://ant.design/ or https://chakra-ui.com/ instead of trying to learn and write your own component and JS+CSS code. Using one of these systems will allow you to compose complex apps out of well-made, well-documented, easy-to-use primitives, making it much easier to focus on business needs rather than basic frontend components and infra.

The basic MUI system, for example, is totally free. You can find third-party apps built on top of it (https://mui.com/store/#populars) and pay a one-time license fee to essentially "fork" them, getting a prebuilt working app that you just attach your backend API calls to.

There are also low-code extensions of these frameworks (meaning you start with a GUI, plan out your app that way, but still have access to the source for future advanced changes). Examples are https://mui.com/toolpad/ and https://retool.com/use-case/dashboards-and-reporting

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Is this a lot? Yes and no. React has a learning curve of its own, but it can take the place of having to learn raw HTML and CSS. (Yes, you eventually should know those things for debugging and polishing, but they are largely a level of abstraction below what you really need for a basic MVP).

Once you learn React, its primary value isn't that it's a great language (opinions differ) but that it has a humongous ecosystem of third-party vendors, free open-source libraries (basically any component you might think to build is probably already available on npm), and a wide availability of devs from hobbyists to full-timers.

Others in this topic will suggest going away from Javascript as much as possible (and using things like HTMX or backend-to-HTML solutions like the old days). That's fine, but you lose out on the rich ecosystem of React and Javascript, so you end up having to build more yourself -- which is what you're trying to avoid in your case.

My own 2¢: As someone who grew up with HTML and made websites since the birth of Javascript and CSS, the web has always been messy. It's always been a semi-open ecosystem controlled by a few major companies (whether that's Netscape or Microsoft or Sun or Adobe, or these days Google and Apple), so it very much suffers from design-by-bullying. Whoever is the power player of the decade gets to add their favorite technologies that everyone else is forced to adopt. Thus the web became a hodgepodge of document markup systems poorly fitted for modern apps, with various hacks on top of hacks built to satisfy some big company or another's in-house needs. Sadly, that means going "vanilla HTML+JS" doesn't leave you with much, just the shattered legacy of poor historical decisions.

React at least helps by encouraging componentization and abstraction of UI elements to functions, using cleaner data models (actual variables and objects) vs direct DOM manipulation (storing page content as state).

We've gone through many generational shifts in approach, from the raw HTML days of Geocities to the you-build-it, we-host-it approach of Godaddy and its ilk, to the "all in one" CMSes like Wordpress or Drupal. These days, (if you want there to be), there can be a pretty clear separation between backend and frontend systems, and with that specialization came a bunch of startups (mentioned above) whose approach is "let us help you build it as best as we can, so you can focus on business logic instead of basic UI and infra". After 20 years of doing this, the current state of the web developer experience is actually my favorite so far. HTML and CSS suck for building apps (as opposed to documents), and although Javascript is a lot better since ECMAscript v6 (ES6), it is still inextricably tied to the DOM (and thus HTML elements) unless you use an abstraction like React.

It's the difference between writing something like:

```

We at MUI have been working on an open-source drag-and-drop React app builder. Link to the landing page: https://mui.com/toolpad/ This week we have published an interactive demo as well. You can check out the repo here.

Here’s another mentality shift for you. If you were thinking in a providers pattern, you need to snap out of it. You can no longer store your theme in a provider. No more RadixUI or MantineUI for you.

import { TextInput, Select } from '@mantine/core'; // Example usage ; ; Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode Maps: React Simple Maps provides maps that are valuable for visualizing geospatial data. You can integrate interactive maps into your dashboard to represent data points geographically. import {ComposableMap, Geographies, Geography, Marker} from "react-simple-maps"; // Example usage {...} {... return ( ); })} Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode By incorporating these core components, our template accelerates the development of admin dashboards. These components are designed to work seamlessly together, providing a cohesive user experience. You can effortlessly create complex data visualizations, interactive tables, intuitive forms, and interactive maps — essential elements that transform raw data into meaningful insights. Deploying the Template to a Live Environment Deploying our admin dashboard template to a live environment is a straightforward process. We recommend utilizing popular hosting platforms like Vercel, Netlify, or Firebase Hosting. These platforms offer seamless integration with Next.js and allow you to deploy with a few simple steps: Install Required Dependencies: Ensure you have the necessary dependencies specified in the package.json file. Build the Project: Generate a production build of your Next.js application using the command: npm run build. Select Hosting Platform: Choose your preferred hosting platform (e.g., Vercel). Connect Repository: Link your template’s GitHub repository to the hosting platform. Configure Deployment Settings: Configure deployment settings, such as branch selection and build commands. Deploy: Trigger the deployment process. The hosting platform will automatically build and deploy your admin dashboard template. Real-World Use Cases The versatility of our admin dashboard template knows no bounds. It caters to a myriad of real-world use cases, each tailored to specific industries and applications: E-Commerce Management: The template can be employed to manage product listings, order processing, and inventory tracking for online stores. Data Analytics: With its data visualization components, the template can serve as a dashboard for analyzing metrics, trends, and insights. Project Management: The template’s customizable components facilitate the creation of project management tools for tracking tasks, deadlines, and team collaboration. SaaS Applications: As the foundation of a Software as a Service (SaaS) application, the template streamlines user management, subscription tracking, and data presentation. Content Management: It can also function as a content management system dashboard, offering tools to manage articles, media, and user-generated content. Live Demo For a hands-on experience, explore the live demo of our admin dashboard template: Live demo — https://mantine-analytics-dashboard.netlify.app/ Witness the template’s adaptability, responsiveness, and functionality firsthand. Feel free to interact with its components, navigate through its sections, and envisage how it could seamlessly integrate into your projects. Contributing and Support I welcome all developers and enthusiasts to contribute to the growth of our open-source admin dashboard template. Contributing is a collaborative process that empowers us to collectively enhance the template’s capabilities and quality. To get started: Fork the Repository: Fork the template’s GitHub repository to your own GitHub account. Clone the Fork: Clone the forked repository to your local machine using Git. Create a Branch: Create a new branch for your contributions to keep the main codebase intact. Implement Changes: Make your desired changes, add new components, or refine existing features. Commit and Push: Commit your changes to the new branch and push them to your GitHub fork. Submit a Pull Request: Submit a pull request from your forked repository to the main template repository. Your changes will be reviewed and potentially merged. Conclusion In summary, our Mantine and Next.js admin dashboard template offers a range of benefits that empower developers, designers, and entrepreneurs to create exceptional admin interfaces: Efficiency and Speed: The template expedites development by providing a pre-built foundation of components and features, allowing you to focus on customization and innovation. Consistency and Aesthetics: Mantine’s design-first approach and Next.js’s performance optimizations ensure a consistent and visually appealing user experience. Flexibility and Customization: The template’s modularity and theming options facilitate easy customization to align with your project’s unique branding and requirements. Rich Functionality: The integration of core components such as charts, tables, forms, and maps equips you with tools to tackle diverse dashboard functionalities. Invitation to Explore and Utilize The Mantine and Next.js admin dashboard template isn’t just an end; it’s a beginning — a starting point for your creative journey. Whether you’re a seasoned developer seeking a rapid launch or an enthusiast keen on learning modern development practices, this template is your canvas. Additional Resources GitHub repository — https://github.com/design-sparx/mantine-analytics-dashboard Mantine — https://mantine.dev/ Nextjs — https://nextjs.org/ Code documentation — https://mantine-analytics-dashboard-docs.netlify.app/

While I have experience with Tailwind and frontend development, I don’t really have the patience to use it. I usually end up using something like Mantine, which is a complete component library UI kit, or Daisy UI, which is a component library built on top of Tailwind. Shadcn/ui is quite similar to Daisy in this sense, but being able to customize the individual components, since they get installed to your components folder, made development more streamlined and more customizable. On top of that being able to change my components style with natural language thanks to v0 made development super easy and fast. Shadcn may be too minimalist of a style for some, but thanks to all the components being local, you can customize them quickly and easily!

Great compilation. Thanks for putting that together.

Curious what your take is on these UI libraries that "claim" they are accessible:

https://mantine.dev - "Build fully functional accessible web applications faster than ever"

29.react-mantine

I am currently using mantine.dev , and i am very happy with the results, i haven't done any customization, if you want to give a look on my website: https://culturadocaractere.com.br

GitHub stars: 21.9k GitHub link: https://github.com/mantinedev/mantine Documentation: https://mantine.dev/getting-started/