Using the first method with a bunch of classes makes a lot of sense when you're going with a UI library like React.js or Vue.js.
You have separate components and you use the classes to style them. So you're not repeating them all over the place because you're then just rendering a single component instead of repeating HTML.
You have separate components and you use the classes to style them. So you're not repeating them all over the place because you're then just rendering a single component instead of repeating HTML.