Component
A reusable, self-contained UI element — like a button, card, or modal — that can be composed to build larger interfaces.
What it is
A component is the fundamental building block of modern UI development. Instead of rebuilding a button or navigation bar from scratch on every screen, you define it once as a component and reuse it everywhere. In code, components are typically written in React, Vue, or similar frameworks. In design tools like Figma, they're called components too — editable once and updated everywhere they're used.
When you would use it
Any time you build UI — components are the default unit of work in modern frontend development.
Common operations
- Building a button component that's used across 50 screens.
- Updating a card component in one place and seeing it change everywhere.
- Composing a page from a library of existing components.
Related terms
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Where this is taught
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