First Time with Frameworks
23 Feb 2022Initial Struggles
Prior to learning Semantic UI, I hadn’t use a framework so I came into it with an open mind. When just starting out, I really struggled with figuring out exactly what was going on essentially. I was very confused on what key terms to use and spent a lot of time doing research; more so than writing code. My initial thoughts were that Semantic UI was fairly complicated and it would take me a while to understand it. This was especially evident when working on the “Your Choice” WOD. At first, I was doing a lot more than I needed to, just to end up with a mediocre, wonky product. This was through using padding and trying to estimate how to space things; rather than using the correct columns and containers. It was honestly frustrating and took a couple hours for me just to get a decently close navbar and background picture for the WOD. So, to avoid having to take a complete shot in the dark on the next in-class WOD, I spent a good amount of time getting familiar with the different functions of Sematic UI and tried to replicate a couple other sites to improve.
Gaining More Experience
After becoming more comfortable with Semantic UI I found that it’s not actually as complicated as it seems, and that if you use it correctly it is really convenient. I’m still not 100% confident on even the basic functions, as it takes me a good amount of fiddling to get it right, but have been satisfied with what I can output. Overall, I really enjoyed using Semantic UI and learning how to create aesthetically pleasing websites. It was both exciting and interesting to be able to roughly replicate sites of large companies that I have used in the past. It felt more real, in a sense, like connected to other aspects of my life such as websites and said popular companies. I am really looking forward to learning more about Semantic UI and other frameworks in the future.
Upside to Frameworks
Although they take additional time to learn, I believe that frameworks are highly beneficial for software engineering. I think they are great in that they allow you to replicate something that looks good or has been proven to be good, easily. Semantic UI simplifies a lot of things and automatically makes it neat which saves a lot of time. This is a major plus for software engineers especially if you need to output a large quantity of product. I presume, that with adequate practice, it is easy to create multiple high-quality front ends in a short amount of time using a framework like Semantic UI. Frameworks can greatly improve the efficiency and consistency of web design when used correctly so I definetly consider them beneficial.