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lit logolit-element

LEGACY REPO. This repository is for maintenance of the legacy LitElement library. The LitElement base class is now part of the Lit library, which is developed in the lit monorepo.

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Quick Overview

LitElement is a simple base class for creating fast, lightweight web components using lit-html. It's part of the Lit ecosystem, which provides efficient, expressive, and extensible tools for building web components. LitElement simplifies the process of creating custom elements with reactive properties and declarative templates.

Pros

  • Lightweight and fast, with minimal overhead
  • Easy to learn and use, especially for developers familiar with modern JavaScript
  • Excellent TypeScript support
  • Seamless integration with other web technologies and frameworks

Cons

  • Limited ecosystem compared to larger frameworks like React or Angular
  • May require additional tools or libraries for complex state management
  • Learning curve for developers new to web components
  • Less suitable for large-scale applications without additional architecture

Code Examples

  1. Creating a simple LitElement component:
import { LitElement, html } from 'lit';

class MyElement extends LitElement {
  static properties = {
    name: { type: String }
  };

  render() {
    return html`<p>Hello, ${this.name}!</p>`;
  }
}

customElements.define('my-element', MyElement);
  1. Using reactive properties:
import { LitElement, html } from 'lit';

class CounterElement extends LitElement {
  static properties = {
    count: { type: Number }
  };

  constructor() {
    super();
    this.count = 0;
  }

  render() {
    return html`
      <p>Count: ${this.count}</p>
      <button @click=${this._increment}>Increment</button>
    `;
  }

  _increment() {
    this.count++;
  }
}

customElements.define('counter-element', CounterElement);
  1. Styling a LitElement component:
import { LitElement, html, css } from 'lit';

class StyledElement extends LitElement {
  static styles = css`
    :host {
      display: block;
      padding: 16px;
      background-color: #f0f0f0;
    }
    p {
      color: blue;
    }
  `;

  render() {
    return html`<p>This is a styled element</p>`;
  }
}

customElements.define('styled-element', StyledElement);

Getting Started

To start using LitElement, follow these steps:

  1. Install LitElement using npm:

    npm install lit
    
  2. Create a new JavaScript file (e.g., my-element.js) and import LitElement:

    import { LitElement, html } from 'lit';
    
  3. Define your custom element class:

    class MyElement extends LitElement {
      render() {
        return html`<p>Hello, LitElement!</p>`;
      }
    }
    
  4. Register your custom element:

    customElements.define('my-element', MyElement);
    
  5. Use your custom element in HTML:

    <my-element></my-element>
    

Competitor Comparisons

18,493

Lit is a simple library for building fast, lightweight web components.

Pros of lit

  • Unified package combining LitElement and lit-html
  • Simplified API with fewer imports required
  • Better performance optimizations and smaller bundle size

Cons of lit

  • Potential breaking changes for projects migrating from LitElement
  • Less granular control over individual components
  • May include unnecessary features for simple use cases

Code Comparison

lit:

import {LitElement, html} from 'lit';

class MyElement extends LitElement {
  render() {
    return html`<p>Hello, World!</p>`;
  }
}

LitElement:

import {LitElement, html} from 'lit-element';

class MyElement extends LitElement {
  render() {
    return html`<p>Hello, World!</p>`;
  }
}

The code structure remains similar, but lit simplifies imports and provides a more streamlined development experience. While LitElement offers more granular control, lit combines functionality into a single package, potentially reducing complexity for many projects. The choice between the two depends on specific project requirements and developer preferences.

12,489

A toolchain for building scalable, enterprise-ready component systems on top of TypeScript and Web Component standards. Stencil components can be distributed natively to React, Angular, Vue, and traditional web developers from a single, framework-agnostic codebase.

Pros of Stencil

  • Generates framework-agnostic components that work with any major framework
  • Built-in optimizations for performance, including lazy-loading and code-splitting
  • Provides a complete toolchain for building and testing components

Cons of Stencil

  • Steeper learning curve due to its compiler-based approach
  • Larger bundle size for small projects compared to LitElement
  • Less flexibility in terms of customization and integration with existing projects

Code Comparison

LitElement:

import { LitElement, html } from 'lit-element';

class MyElement extends LitElement {
  render() {
    return html`<p>Hello, World!</p>`;
  }
}
customElements.define('my-element', MyElement);

Stencil:

import { Component, h } from '@stencil/core';

@Component({
  tag: 'my-component',
})
export class MyComponent {
  render() {
    return <p>Hello, World!</p>;
  }
}

Both LitElement and Stencil are powerful tools for building web components, but they have different approaches. LitElement focuses on simplicity and ease of use, while Stencil offers a more comprehensive solution with built-in optimizations and tooling. The choice between them depends on project requirements, team expertise, and desired level of control over the development process.

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Pros of Svelte

  • Compiles to vanilla JavaScript, resulting in smaller bundle sizes
  • No virtual DOM, leading to faster runtime performance
  • Simpler syntax and less boilerplate code

Cons of Svelte

  • Smaller ecosystem and community compared to LitElement
  • Less flexibility for custom rendering optimizations
  • Limited support for server-side rendering

Code Comparison

Svelte component:

<script>
  let count = 0;
  const increment = () => count += 1;
</script>

<button on:click={increment}>
  Clicks: {count}
</button>

LitElement component:

import { LitElement, html } from 'lit';

class MyCounter extends LitElement {
  static properties = { count: { type: Number } };
  constructor() { super(); this.count = 0; }
  render() {
    return html`<button @click=${() => this.count++}>
      Clicks: ${this.count}
    </button>`;
  }
}
customElements.define('my-counter', MyCounter);

The Svelte example showcases its concise syntax and built-in reactivity, while the LitElement example demonstrates its use of web components and HTML templating.

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Pros of React

  • Larger ecosystem and community support
  • More comprehensive tooling and libraries
  • Better suited for complex, large-scale applications

Cons of React

  • Steeper learning curve for beginners
  • Requires additional libraries for state management in large apps
  • Larger bundle size compared to LitElement

Code Comparison

React:

import React from 'react';

function MyComponent({ name }) {
  return <h1>Hello, {name}!</h1>;
}

LitElement:

import { LitElement, html } from 'lit-element';

class MyElement extends LitElement {
  static properties = { name: {} };
  render() {
    return html`<h1>Hello, ${this.name}!</h1>`;
  }
}

Summary

React and LitElement are both popular libraries for building web applications, but they have different focuses. React is a full-featured library with a large ecosystem, making it suitable for complex applications. LitElement, on the other hand, is lighter and focuses on web components, making it ideal for simpler applications or when integrating with other frameworks. React has a steeper learning curve but offers more comprehensive tooling, while LitElement is easier to get started with and has a smaller footprint. The choice between them depends on the specific needs of your project and development team.

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This is the repo for Vue 2. For Vue 3, go to https://github.com/vuejs/core

Pros of Vue

  • More comprehensive framework with built-in state management and routing
  • Larger ecosystem and community support
  • Easier learning curve for beginners

Cons of Vue

  • Heavier bundle size compared to LitElement
  • Less flexibility for custom rendering optimizations
  • Potential over-engineering for simple projects

Code Comparison

Vue component:

<template>
  <div>{{ message }}</div>
</template>

<script>
export default {
  data() {
    return { message: 'Hello Vue!' }
  }
}
</script>

LitElement component:

import { LitElement, html } from 'lit-element';

class MyElement extends LitElement {
  static properties = { message: {} };
  render() {
    return html`<div>${this.message}</div>`;
  }
}
customElements.define('my-element', MyElement);

Vue offers a more structured approach with separate template and script sections, while LitElement uses a more JavaScript-centric approach with HTML templating inside the render method. Vue's syntax may be more familiar to traditional web developers, while LitElement's approach aligns closely with web components standards.

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Pros of Angular

  • Full-featured framework with built-in routing, forms, and HTTP client
  • Powerful dependency injection system for better modularity and testability
  • Comprehensive CLI tools for project scaffolding and development

Cons of Angular

  • Steeper learning curve due to its complexity and TypeScript requirement
  • Larger bundle size, which can impact initial load times
  • More opinionated structure, potentially limiting flexibility for some projects

Code Comparison

Angular component:

@Component({
  selector: 'app-hello',
  template: '<h1>Hello, {{name}}!</h1>'
})
export class HelloComponent {
  @Input() name: string;
}

LitElement component:

import { LitElement, html } from 'lit-element';

class HelloElement extends LitElement {
  static properties = { name: { type: String } };
  render() {
    return html`<h1>Hello, ${this.name}!</h1>`;
  }
}
customElements.define('hello-element', HelloElement);

Key Differences

  • Angular uses TypeScript by default, while LitElement can use JavaScript or TypeScript
  • Angular components require more boilerplate and decorators
  • LitElement focuses on web components, making it more suitable for creating reusable UI elements
  • Angular provides a complete application framework, whereas LitElement is primarily for UI components

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README

LitElement

LitElement is simple base class for creating fast, lightweight web components with lit-html.

Build Status Published on npm Join our Slack Mentioned in Awesome lit-html

Looking for Lit?

LitElement is now part of the Lit library monorepo. Lit 2 includes lit-html 2.x and LitElement 3.x.

This repo contains the code for LitElement 2.x.

Documentation

For LitElement 2.x documentation, see the legacy documentation site.

For Lit 2, the next version of LitElement and lit-html, see the Lit site.

Overview

LitElement uses lit-html to render into the element's Shadow DOM and adds API to help manage element properties and attributes. LitElement reacts to changes in properties and renders declaratively using lit-html. See the lit-html guide for additional information on how to create templates for lit-element.

import {LitElement, html, css, customElement, property} from 'lit-element';

// This decorator defines the element.
@customElement('my-element')
export class MyElement extends LitElement {

  // This decorator creates a property accessor that triggers rendering and
  // an observed attribute.
  @property()
  mood = 'great';

  static styles = css`
    span {
      color: green;
    }`;

  // Render element DOM by returning a `lit-html` template.
  render() {
    return html`Web Components are <span>${this.mood}</span>!`;
  }

}
<my-element mood="awesome"></my-element>

Note, this example uses decorators to create properties. Decorators are a proposed standard currently available in TypeScript or Babel. LitElement also supports a vanilla JavaScript method of declaring reactive properties.

Examples

Installation

From inside your project folder, run:

$ npm install lit-element

To install the web components polyfills needed for older browsers:

$ npm i -D @webcomponents/webcomponentsjs

Supported Browsers

The last 2 versions of all modern browsers are supported, including Chrome, Safari, Opera, Firefox, Edge. In addition, Internet Explorer 11 is also supported.

Edge and Internet Explorer 11 require the web components polyfills.

Forward Compatibility With Lit 2

Lit 2 (LitElement 3.0) has a few breaking changes and deprecations that have been back-ported to LitElement 2.5 in order to ease upgrading.

To prepare for Lit 2, update these APIs:

LitElement 2.4LitElement 2.5/Lit 2
Decorator imports:
import {customElement} from 'lit-element';
import {customElement} from 'lit-element/decorators.js';
@internalProperty() foo;@state() foo;
Override _getUpdateComplete()Override getUpdateComplete()
Shadow root options:
Override createRenderRoot().
Add static shadowRootOptions.
import {UpdatingElement} from 'lit-element';import {ReactiveElement} from 'lit-element';

Contributing

Please see CONTRIBUTING.md.

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