A Stylus compiler is a tool that processes Stylus code and converts it into standard CSS. Stylus is another CSS preprocessor, much like SASS or LESS, but it offers a more flexible and less syntactically strict approach, which makes it quite unique. It allows you to write CSS in a very minimalistic way—optionally omitting semicolons, braces, or even curly braces.
To work with Stylus, you write .styl files, which are then compiled into .css files using a Stylus compiler.
Popular Ways to Compile Stylus:
Command Line Tool (Stylus CLI) You can install the Stylus compiler globally via npm and use it directly in the command line:
bash
npm install -g stylus
stylus input.styl -o output.css
Task Runners (Gulp, Webpack, etc.) Stylus can be integrated into task runners like Gulp or Webpack, which will automatically compile Stylus files when changes are made. For example, using Gulp, you'd typically set up a pipeline like this:
javascript
const gulp = require('gulp');
const stylus = require('gulp-stylus');
gulp.task('stylus', () => {
gulp.src('src/**/*.styl')
.pipe(stylus())
.pipe(gulp.dest('dist/css'));
});
This setup will compile your .styl files into CSS whenever you run the gulp task.
IDE Plugins and Extensions Many code editors such as VS Code have plugins for Stylus that can auto-compile .styl files upon saving, making it very convenient for development. Look for Stylus-specific extensions in your editor's plugin marketplace.
Online Compilers Similar to SASS, there are online compilers where you can paste your Stylus code, and the compiler will generate the CSS output, such as:
Stylus Compiler Online
Integration with Frameworks Some CSS frameworks or libraries (like Express or Electron) also have built-in Stylus compilers for server-side processing.
Example of Stylus Syntax:
Stylus is quite flexible, allowing different ways of writing CSS:
stylus
/* Normal CSS-like syntax */
body
background-color: #fff
/* Shortened syntax with no curly braces, semicolons, or colons */
a
color #333
text-decoration none
/* Variables */
$primary-color = #3498db
button
background-color $primary-color
/* Mixins */
border-radius(radius)
-webkit-border-radius radius
-moz-border-radius radius
border-radius radius
div
border-radius(10px)
Stylus allows for a very clean, readable syntax while maintaining the flexibility to add advanced features like variables, mixins, and conditional statements.
Installing Stylus
To get started, first, install it via npm:
bash
npm install stylus --save-dev
You can then run the compiler either using npm scripts or directly via the command line.