Reflect on UI Frameworks

04 Oct 2018

Why

UI Frameworks could be as complicated to learn as a new programming language, yet the benefits of learning a UI Framework makes it worth the time to learn. Semantic UI, for example, helps develop websites faster by giving it a modern style without having to write raw CSS. Given that, creating a user friendly user interface becomes a simple job for a software developer.

Personal Experience

Learning Semantic UI wasn’t as hard as learning a new programming language. Given it’s human-like language, implementing Semantic UI CSS classes to style a website was easier than writing raw CSS. Though Semantic UI is easier to pick up and get started with it lacks a few components that Bootstrap has to offer. One example, would be the Carousel component which Semantic UI lacks compared to Bootstrap. The lack of the Carousel component in Semantic UI made it difficult to replicate websites because most website which has a slideshow can’t be copied and additional CSS and JavaScript code has to be written to make a slideshow.

Overall Thought

Semantic UI is easier to pick up than Bootstraap. Though it lacks components that Bootstrap has, it gives new developers an entry way for them to learn a new framework without the stress of understanding framework specific naming of classes. Unfortunately, one thing about Semantic UI that I find lacking is its responsiveness on mobile devices. Bootstrap is much more responsive than Semantic UI because its components are built from mobile up rather than desktop down.