The world keeps changing and developing at an unbelievable pace. We have all faced the challenges of the Covid pandemic and gradually getting used to its consequences. One of the major challenges is remote work. A few years ago home office was the fate of bloggers and those dealing with social media. Currently, most prior office workers moved to work from home. The IT sector is not an exception there.
The most vivid modifications of the IT developers’ routine are online meetings in Teams, Zoom calls with customers, Skype interviews. A frequent situation is to start working on a new project without physically meeting other team members. The drawback may be the lack of the team-building corporate spirit. But the situation appears to be ideal for those with social anxieties.
From the point of view of work processes, highly responsible employees with self-discipline are valued in the labor market. Staying away from your project managers and team means you are less controlled but at the same time you are supposed to do more things on your own.
Things that may help a developer working from home are:
- video tutorials on YouTube
- tech sites with valuable current information (Stack Overflow, Medium)
- support of an experienced colleague
- turnkey tools that need minimum customization
In this article, we will look at the latter point.
What is a UI component library?
In the time when not so much mentoring is available, and when projects are looking for opportunities to save working time, a UI component library is an essential solution. UI component libraries offer ready-made widgets and applications that can be used as bricks in building any interface structure. Project requirements do vary, but the majority of libraries provide developers with tools for fast and easy design. Components easily fit each other, they can function in any environment, and they are compatible with any modern device. Besides, with the help of those ‘bricks’, it is possible to create prototypes and to show them to the customers, for them to be sure their investments are viable.
There are many UI libraries currently offered on the market. We will explore the most comprehensive and regularly updated of those.
Webix JavaScript UI Framework
This one has proved to be a reliable product for almost 10 years already. It offers over 100 widgets that are ready to be used either as they are or customized according to the needs of the project. Besides, there is a wide choice of complex widgets, that are complete SPA applications. Additionally, the Webix library contains Webix Jet, which is a free open space microframework for UI development. Documentation is not always enough, but the forum is helpful and the technical support is responsive.
Among the most popular Webix widgets are:
- File Manager
- Chat
- Report Manager
- Kanban
Sencha Ext JS
Sencha can be called a full-fledged framework, as it contains practically everything necessary for solving any UI/UX tasks. Sencha is working on its environment making sure it can be used in any niche and integrated into any solution. There are several useful tools inside the library. Sencha Test is created to facilitate the automated testing process. Sencha Themer is a tool for building and configuring design schemes. Sencha Stencils is a UI asset kit, which includes Adobe Illustrator, Adobe XD, Sketch, and Balsamiq for simple and quick prototyping.
Sencha components contain:
- Pivot Grid
- Exporter
- Layouts
- D3 Adapter
Kendo UI
Another library that has achieved the status of a quality product for web business apps. It is updated regularly and supports all four major frameworks at once (Angular, React, Vue, jQuery). Kendo is highly estimated by a large community of developers. Telerik company, which stays behind Kendo UI, continues improving and enhancing its product. Nowadays, the tools for ASP.NET, AJAX, MV, and Core are offered. There are solutions for PHP, Silverlight, JSP. Such a responsible approach allows Kendo UI to be built into almost any system.
Handy tool are:
- Unite UX
- Telerik Document Processing
- DataViz
To go
There is a wide choice of ready-made components in the open-source right now to help developers with their duties. In this article, we have mentioned only a few modern UI libraries. The choice depends on particular project requirements. But the goal of any component library is to facilitate the process of developing and to save time and money. Why not start using what is over there instead of creating new tools from scratch.
