Difficult but easier?
27 Feb 2020
What are these frameworks?
UI frameworks are useful when you want to write compact code that is easier to write and read. The one drawback to using a UI framework is that you have to learn how to use it first! This was evident when I was first learning how to use Semantic UI on an online learning website called pluralsite. For me, it was just like learning a new programming language because of the new coding syntaxes I needed to learn. For example, we still used divs but the classes we use might include code such as ui, container, or menu. I could see why it is recommended that software engineers use UI frameworks because compared to how long it might take to build code from scratch, you can simply use the framework to quickly recreate what you need, or want to create.
What it’s like learning a UI framework
For me, learning a new code is the same process as learning anything else in life: read, watch, and practice. For some reason though, Semantic UI has been quite hard to learn because it is hard for me to memorize the new coding syntax with their specific functionalities; for example, knowing to use a ui action input class to create an input box that will perform an action or using a ui two column grid class in order to create a grid section that will have two columns each row. I have been working on writing HTML code and CSS styling code for a while, and learning how to utilize Semantic UI has been fun because you get to see exactly what you want when you run the code; especially because Semantic UI’s coding is intuitive, and creates straight forward code.
Why you should use Semantic UI
I think that if you are not picky and can settle with the functionality of a specific UI framework, then I think you should definitely consider learning a UI framework. For me, since I just started learning how to use HTML and CSS to create very simple webpages with texts and images, I only have these simple webpages as the best I can create for a website. But Semantic UI has changed all that. Semantic UI has made it possible for me to create simple websites that can look like a website in the real world. Without it, I don’t think I would have been able to create the code from scratch every time I wanted to create a new grid or menu. I have had an enjoyable time creating websites using Semantic UI because of how intuitive the coding is and how quickly I can create something so complicated. I never would have thought I could create a website, and now that I have some background with Semantic UI, I can apply what I learned to create awesome websites in the future.