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title: Get Started with Lightning Base Components
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locale: en-us
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  - Lightning Component Reference
---
# Get Started with Lightning Base Components

The Component Reference documents the full set of base components for both the Lightning Web Components (LWC) and Aura programming models. Base components are the UI building blocks of Lightning Experience, the Salesforce mobile app, Experience Builder sites, and more.

## Base Components and SLDS

Base components implement the Salesforce Lightning Design System (SLDS) component [blueprints](https://v1.lightningdesignsystem.com/components/overview/). They also provide logic to help you speed up UI development and work with your Salesforce data easily, so you can focus on your business logic and processes instead.

Base components automatically use [SLDS 1](https://v1.lightningdesignsystem.com/) and [SLDS 2](https://www.lightningdesignsystem.com/) depending on which theme is enabled in your org.

![Base components are building blocks for your custom Salesforce UI](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/media/base_components_overview.png '{"class": "image-md"}')

Using the base components is the best way to make sure your Salesforce UIs are accessible and follow SLDS best practices. The Component Reference can help you customize and style each base component using the component’s built-in HTML attributes, methods, and events.

## What's in the Component Reference?

The Component Reference contains these reference docs.

- [Components](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/lightning-component-reference/guide/components.md) - for the LWC versions of base components
- [Utility Modules](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/lightning-component-reference/guide/lwc/components/utilities.md) - for functionality and services to build integrated apps in LWC
- [API Modules](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/lightning-component-reference/guide/lwc/components/api.md) - for access to Salesforce data, platform features, and specialized APIs with wire adapters and functions in LWC
- [Legacy Components](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/lightning-component-reference/guide/aura/components/legacy.md) - for the Aura versions of base components, and associated Aura events and interfaces

We recommend that you use LWC for new development. Learn more about developing with LWC in the [_Lightning Web Components Developer Guide_](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/platform/lwc/).