Formik vs Material-UI: What are the differences?

Introduction

Formik and Material-UI are two popular libraries used in web development. Formik is a form library for React that simplifies the process of building forms and managing form state. Material-UI, on the other hand, is a set of components that implement the Material Design guidelines for React applications. While both libraries are used in web development, they have some key differences.

1. Standalone vs Component-based: Formik is a standalone library that focuses on form handling and state management. It provides a higher-order component (HOC) that wraps form components and handles form state. Material-UI, on the other hand, is a component library that provides a set of pre-designed components for building UIs following the Material Design guidelines. It includes form components that can be used alongside Formik to build forms.

2. Form state management: Formik provides a streamlined way to manage form state by automatically handling form submission, validation, errors, and values. It manages form state internally and provides APIs to access and manipulate the form state. Material-UI, on the other hand, does not directly handle form state management. It focuses on providing UI components and styling. To manage form state with Material-UI, you can integrate it with Formik or use another state management solution like React hooks or Redux.

3. Customization and Styling: Material-UI provides a wide range of pre-designed components with customizable styles and themes. It follows the Material Design guidelines and provides a consistent and visually appealing UI out-of-the-box. Formik, on the other hand, focuses on form handling and does not provide pre-designed UI components. However, it can be used alongside Material-UI to build custom forms with the desired styling.

4. Validation: Formik provides built-in validation support with its validation schema and validation function. It allows you to define validation rules for each field and automatically handles validation errors. Material-UI does not provide validation functionality out-of-the-box. You need to implement your own validation logic or use a separate validation library when using Material-UI for forms.

5. Form submission: Formik provides a streamlined way to handle form submission with its handleSubmit function. It automatically handles form submission and prevents default form behavior. Material-UI does not provide form submission functionality out-of-the-box. You need to implement your own form submission logic using event handlers or integrate Material-UI forms with Formik or other form handling solutions.

6. Formik-specific features: Formik provides additional features like field array support, form reset, form initialization, form synchronization, and more. It has a rich set of APIs and utilities to handle complex form scenarios. Material-UI does not have these Formik-specific features built-in. If you require these features, you would need to integrate Material-UI forms with Formik or implement them separately.

In summary, Formik is a standalone form library that provides form state management, validation, and submission functionality. Material-UI, on the other hand, is a component library that focuses on providing pre-designed UI components following the Material Design guidelines. While both libraries can be used together, Formik offers more extensive form handling features compared to Material-UI.