Not Frame-wood, It's Framework
05 Oct 2017What is a framework?
For most people, when they think of framework, the first thing that comes to mind is a skeleton structure that is used as a guide to build houses and such. However in programming world, it’s not that much different. In fact, it’s almost the same idea.
For example, to build a bird house, with html, you may build something like this:
If you add a little bit css, it may look a little bit better:
But what if you want to build something like these?
And that’s when framework comes in to play. I’m not saying that it’s impossible to build these beautiful houses with only css and html, but it would require a lot more works and contents.
Using framework could save you all the time and effort. The contents and materials are mostly already built-in. All you need to do is to organize and reassemble them.
Most frameworks are free and open sources, so there is nothing for you to lose to try it out, well there maybe something, but we will discuss about that later.
How does it help?
A programming framework provides a guidelines and library to build a program in such way to make it:
- More organize.
- Less redundant works and more functionality.
- Speed up project development.
- Helps established a Coding Standard for your project.
- Make your codes to be more readable and easier to maintain.
For example, in Semantics UI, a block of code can be like this:
<div class="ui three column grid">
<div class="ui column">
<img class="ui small circular image centered"
src="/images/essays/picture1.jpg">
</div>
<div class="column">
<img class="ui small circular image centered"
src="/images/essays/picture2.jpg">
</div>
<div class="column">
<img class="ui small circular image centered"
src="/images/essays/picture3.jpg">
</div>
</div>
Without any prior knowledge about programming, I think anyone, who understands English, would be able to understand these lines of code and what they are representing.
WHAT DOES IT COST?
Like I said above, most frameworks are free, so why some people are not using it? There could be many reasons, but the most common reason is adaptation.
As easy as it sounds, it would take some times to work with a new framework before you could get a hang of it. It’s like learning a new programming language. Although it’s not a lot different, but there are rules that you need to know and follow.
Good frameworks for JS environment:
It may not as popular as bootstrap, but with rich resources and beautiful UI. This frameworks gives you a lot of design freedom and adapts to your needs.
Build responsive, mobile-first projects on the web with the world's most popular front-end component library. It is the second most-starred project on GitHub.
Foundation is a family of responsive front-end frameworks that make it easy to design beautiful responsive websites, apps and emails that look amazing on any device.
Conclusion:
Framework are incredibly helpful tools for front-end design. They can help you save a lot of time and speed up your productivity without reduce the quality or functionality. And because it’s easy to read, it’s also easy to detect error within your codes, and also easy to maintain and upgrade.
Most importantly, they are free. The only things that may cost you is time. It may take awhile before you get comfortable with a framework. Like people always say, “Good things always come to those who wait.” In this case, just keep coding until you can see the good things.
References: