Get Started with Lightning Web Components

Use the Lightning Web Components (LWC) framework to build custom user interfaces, web and mobile apps, and digital experiences on the Salesforce Platform. Lightning web components are custom HTML elements built using HTML and JavaScript.

Salesforce provides base Lightning web components built on Lightning Design System to use as building blocks for your custom experiences. Use base Lightning web components to give your users a consistent look and feel and to simplify your development experience. Salesforce Lightning Experience is built on Lightning Design System and base Lightning components.

Lightning Web Components uses core Web Components standards and provides only what’s necessary to perform well in browsers supported by Salesforce. Because it’s built on code that runs natively in browsers, Lightning Web Components is lightweight and delivers exceptional performance. Most of the code you write is standard JavaScript and HTML.

Salesforce is committed to developing open web standards and is a member of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Salesforce developers are contributing members of the Ecma International Technical Committee 39 (TC39), which is the committee that evolves JavaScript.

Lightning Web Components is also open-source.

You can build Lightning components using two programming models: Lightning Web Components, and the original model, Aura Components. Lightning web components and Aura components can coexist and interoperate on a page. To admins and end users, they both appear as Lightning components.

Base Lightning components are available as Lightning web components and as Aura components. The Component Reference includes documentation, specifications, and examples for both. See Base Components: Aura Vs Lightning Web Components for differences between them.

When you have a choice between LWC and Aura, choose LWC. See How to Choose Lightning Web Components or Aura.