HackerNoon migrated from Styled Components to Tailwind CSS due to limitations faced with Styled Components as the codebase evolved.
Styled Components were initially chosen for HackerNoon due to their self-contained nature and dynamic theming support.
The decision to switch to Tailwind CSS was driven by the growing complexity of managing styles in the expanding codebase.
Tailwind CSS's utility-first approach promised streamlined development, especially for layout, responsiveness, and theming.
The setup for switching to Tailwind CSS posed initial challenges, particularly with global styles conflicting with existing components.
The conversion process involved establishing new conventions, handling global styles, reusing classes, and building theme-aware components with Tailwind CSS.
The migration process from Styled Components to Tailwind CSS was aided by leveraging AI (ChatGPT) for refactoring components, making the transition more manageable.
HackerNoon successfully converted its homepage to Tailwind CSS, with gradual plans to transition other pages from Styled Components.
The gradual migration approach allowed for improvements in design, structure, and introducing modern UI elements alongside the Tailwind conversion.
Switching to Tailwind CSS was about modernizing HackerNoon's frontend workflow, enhancing consistency, and simplifying development for future scalability.