Reusable UI components for faster development (presentational and functional)
When building UI screens (on mobile apps) or pages (on web apps), you want to focus your energies on your specific business problems. What you don't want to do is spend time reinventing the wheel.
In this podcast, Krish discusses the crucial concept of reusability in UI components, emphasizing its significance across various development stacks. He emphasizes the importance of focusing on solving unique business problems rather than reinventing solutions already available. Krish provides practical guidance on implementing reusability, including identifying common functionalities across screens, creating reusable components, and refactoring existing ones. He stresses the long-term benefits of investing time in creating reusable components, despite potential initial time costs. The podcast concludes with Krish summarizing the importance of a thoughtful approach to code development, particularly in terms of component reusability, and expressing hope that listeners have gained valuable insights from the discussion.
Summary
Explanation of UI Component Reusability:
Krish explains the concept of reusability of UI components, irrespective of the specific stack or framework being used.
He discusses the importance of focusing on solving unique business problems rather than reinventing solutions already available.
Implementing Reusability:
Krish provides guidance on implementing reusability, including identifying common functionalities across screens, creating reusable components, refactoring existing components for reusability, and leveraging newly created design patterns.
He emphasizes the long-term benefits of investing time in creating reusable components, despite potential initial time costs.
Podcast
Transcript
0:01
Hey everyone, this is Krish. Hope you’re doing well. Welcome to the Snowpal podcast. In this episode, I want to talk about UI components and their reusability. But before we dive into that, have you checked out our newest features?
0:19
We’ve made quite a few changes recently, pushing updates to production over the last two to four weeks. So, take a look and see which ones catch your interest. There’s a variety of things you might like. If you have any comments or questions, feel free to reach out to me. Thank you. Now, let’s get into the content of this podcast.
0:54
Today, I want to discuss the reusability of UI components. Let me explain what I mean. Although I may reference specific frameworks or libraries, the underlying premise should be applicable across various tech stacks.
1:15
Imagine you’re building a UI page, whether for a web or mobile app. You have certain business problems to solve, and you want to focus on addressing those rather than reinventing the wheel.
1:42
Let’s say your page needs to perform a few specific tasks. You’ll look for components that can handle those tasks efficiently. Whether it’s a dropdown menu or a multi-select dropdown, you’ll find and integrate the appropriate components into your design.
3:01
As you build, you’ll encounter similar screens or pages with overlapping functionality. Here’s where reusability becomes crucial. You want to identify common patterns and abstract them into reusable components.
4:36
Your page may consist of stateless widgets provided by third-party libraries, but your implementation may involve additional custom logic. It’s essential to refactor and enhance these components for broader reuse within your application.
6:21
Striking a balance between generality and specificity is key. Overengineering can lead to unnecessary complexity, but overly specific solutions hinder scalability. With experience, you’ll learn to identify reusable components and refactor existing ones accordingly.
7:12
Refactoring existing components and creating new ones may require additional time upfront. However, the long-term benefits in terms of code maintainability and development efficiency outweigh the initial investment.
8:38
By fostering a culture of code reuse, you enable future developers to build upon existing solutions, fostering collaboration and accelerating development cycles.
9:02
Some of these concepts may seem straightforward, but their implementation can have a significant impact on your development process. I hope this podcast has provided valuable insights into the importance of UI component reusability.
Thank you for listening, and until next time, take care.
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