CSS Modules vs Sass: What are the differences?

Introduction

In website development, both CSS Modules and Sass are popular tools used to enhance the styling of web pages. CSS Modules allows for the creation of local scope for CSS, while Sass is a preprocessor scripting language that extends CSS and provides additional functionalities. Below are the key differences between CSS Modules and Sass.

1. Naming Conventions: CSS Modules use a unique naming convention where class names are automatically generated, preventing clashes with other elements in the web page. In contrast, Sass does not provide any specific naming convention, allowing developers to use their preferred naming conventions.

2. Scope: CSS Modules provide local scope for CSS, meaning that classes defined within a component are only applied to that specific component. This encapsulation helps avoid conflicts and ensures that styling is isolated. On the other hand, Sass does not inherently offer local scope, and developers need to manage scoping manually.

3. Syntax: CSS Modules use standard CSS syntax, making it easy for developers who are already familiar with CSS. It provides a simple way to define stylesheets with class names. In contrast, Sass introduces additional syntax, such as variable declarations, nesting, and mixins, which enhances the capabilities of CSS.

4. Dependency Management: CSS Modules handle dependencies automatically, with each module taking care of its own dependencies. This reduces the risk of conflicting styles and simplifies the management of stylesheets. Sass, on the other hand, does not handle dependencies automatically, and developers need to manually import and manage dependencies.

5. Extensibility: Sass offers a broader range of features and functionalities compared to CSS Modules. It provides various programming features like variables, functions, mixins, and inheritance, allowing for code reuse and more advanced styling capabilities. CSS Modules have limited extensibility since they mostly focus on providing local scope.

6. Compatibility: CSS Modules are supported by most modern browsers without the need for any additional tools or compilation processes. However, Sass requires a compilation step to convert the Sass code into standard CSS before it can be used by the browsers. This extra step might add complexity to the development process and increase build times.

In Summary, CSS Modules and Sass differ in their approach to scoping, naming conventions, syntax, dependency management, extensibility, and compatibility. While CSS Modules provide local scoping and automatic naming conventions, Sass offers a more extensive set of features with additional syntax and requires a compilation step for browser compatibility.