The user interface is building a mechanism for users to easily interact with a computer application. It incorporates the common behavior of the users to let them understand the meaning and purpose of a design.
The user interface is the way a user come across an input device like a keyword, mouse, or a touch screen. And, this applies to the website applications as well.
Building an easier user interface is a difficult job because the websites were made for the documents and not an end user. The recent advancement in conventions and methodologies in CSS has made it easier to build a user interface with components.
If you need an additional option in your WordPress website, you are left with two options. The one is modifying the code, testing for its flawless functionality and editing it when you, whereas, another option is to develop a module or plugin for it as a component.
For instance, the registration form of your website is a component. If you keep it separate from the entire coding of your website, you can easily make unlimited changes to personalize it according to targeted users.
A practical implementation can be the installation of WordPress custom registration form plugin that allow numerous customization options without affecting other components of your website.
You can add, edit and delete different fields on the sign-up form without worrying for a mistake. Because any bug in the form is limited to the component and may not prove a hindrance to the entire website performance.
Here is an example of the react component that is coded in a styled component.
Const Button = styled.button
font-Size: 2em;
margin: 2em;
padding; 0.42em 2em;
border: 3px Solid palevioletred;
border-radius: 3.5px;
/* Adapt the colors based on primary prop */
background: ${props => props.primary && 'palevioletred'};
color: ${props => props.primary ? 'white' : 'palevioletred' };
<Button primary>FMEAddons</Button>
<Buttono>Browse the Products!</Button>
What is a Component?
The basic definition of a component goes like, 'An individual software component that can be a software program, a resource for the website, or a plugin that encloses a functionality or data.' Now, incorporate the same concept in the user interface. It is a set of related controls encapsulated in a component of user behavior.
In a website, a design UI component can be a display unit that shows details of an employee. Like the name, address, phone number or employee code. With the help of each component, an employee can edit or modify the record.
Significance of Component-Based UI Development
The components are the atomic units for developing the user interface. Since, the technology changes at a rapid pace, a component-based design gives you the freedom to remove a component or replace it with another advanced one.
It accelerates the development as the individuals can consider improving an existing design component rather than developing a new one. Hence, it is making the user interfaces easier to manage and maintain.
Best Practices of Working With Components
With the help of a component based approach, developing an easier user interface becomes efficient and transparent. It allows the individuals to reuse a component for improvements rather than building a new one from the scratch.
By pursuing such an approach, you may find different practices that are worth considering. Following are few of them.
Divide the Container and Presentational Components
One of the remarkable practices is splitting components that manage data and/or the logic. The division of these two can result in an easier codebase. This will allow you to refine the user interface.
For example, if you need to change the API format at the back-end, you will be required to render a presentational component through the container component. It will not disturb the rest of the code and will work fine.
Additionally, if you need to change the user experience of a website or an application, you will have to make changes in the presentational components alone. These components are dealt in separately and do not rely on other components. So, they will never be affected. In result, it will work more than fine.
By following the practice of splitting the container and presentation components, you can also avoid performing duplicate changes that are often irrelevant. Thus, it saves you from committing accidental errors.
Pursuing Small Components
Building small component links have been a common practice of developers. It is more useful to use components rather than relying on different compositions.
For instance, if a button component makes a button class in the document object model, it can be made bigger and more significant. Suppose, you make a bigger button, it would be easier to attach a class .btn to it.
This will allow the users to render the primary button rather than knowing which class is applied to it.
It is quite easier to make a primary button like <button primary/>. Here is a code for your convenience to easily implement it your design.
// button.js
function button(Props) {
const className = 'btn${props.primary ? 'btn—-primary' : ''}'
return (
<button className={className}>{props.children}</button>
);
}
The adding of this button will relieve the users and will not bother knowing a particular class associated to it. They will be required to render the buttong and that's it.
Having Single-Use Class Names
Take the example of the <button/> component that is discussed in the previous point, a .btn class is included in it. If the style of the button is changed, it is not going to affect anything else.
But, if a change in color distorts the layout of the button, then the components are not rendered properly. It will put the entire efforts of creating independent components in vain.
For eliminating any of the similar error as mentioned above, the experts conclude the single-use of class names in the CSS. It will help you reduce the errors that are often difficult to find at later stages.
The problems in coding are very common as these are written by humans, and we all are subject to make mistakes. The best practices are the result of continuous coding and testing procedures.
Hence, they are recommended to coders to adopt in order to mitigate any chance of committing a mistake.
Conclusion
The use of components is significant for development large software. If you avoid the use of components, the code may become an entire mess, which will make it difficult to figure out a bug or malfunction.
The ease and step by step progress with the help of components is making it a future for developing the user interface and other applications.