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The art of Front end Engineering

narative.co

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Re: The art of Front end Engineering

#11

Post by austincheney »

There’s a deep understanding of the tools they use every day. They may use a framework as a starting point, but they also understand the JavaScript that makes the underlying work. They leverage CSS like a fluent language, manipulating DOM elements to their will. They see browser APIs as the foundation of their process rather than puzzling concepts pulled from Stackoverflow answers.

I wish that were true, I have not seen this in the corporate world and it appears absent in the job opening details of startups.

My experience tells me this:

* If you are really good you can be up and running a new project in something like React in 2 or 3 days.

* If you are really good you can be up and running without any framework at all in about 2 weeks.

* If you don’t use a framework you are forced to make tough design decisions early. This is critically beneficial and pays interest over time. Those decisions allow you to scale in ways frameworks cannot.

* The value of frameworks is over estimated for the wrong reasons and under appreciated for reasons developers don’t immediately see.

* Working directly to the DOM (even without query selectors) is amazingly easy, but it takes practice (just like writing CSS). The value is not the data, but the relationship between the nodes. That line of thinking reminds me of this board game called Othello.

* State management is less easy but still not challenging. https://github.com/prettydiff/wisdom/blob/master/state_manag...

Re: The art of Front end Engineering

#12

Post by gumby »

> They see [XXX] as the foundation of their process rather than puzzling concepts pulled from Stackoverflow answers.

Apart from front end, this in general is the mark of people who are fun to work with. Especially so when the XXX in question is something I don’t have facility with myself.

I’m very glad that programming has become less an obscure art known only to the adepts. Nevertheless I personally prefer to work with those with deep knowledge of their domain.

Re: The art of Front end Engineering

#13

Post by nbardy »

austincheney wrote: post #11

There’s a deep understanding of the tools they use every day. They may use a framework as a starting point, but they also understand the JavaScript that makes the underlying work. They leverage CSS like a fluent language, manipulating DOM elements to their will. They see browser APIs as the foundation of their process rather than puzzling concepts pulled from Stackoverflow answers. I wish that were true, I have not s…

This is pretty drab. I can be up and started in about two minutes with React, typescript and parcel.

Re: The art of Front end Engineering

#14

Post by echelon »

austincheney wrote: post #11

There’s a deep understanding of the tools they use every day. They may use a framework as a starting point, but they also understand the JavaScript that makes the underlying work. They leverage CSS like a fluent language, manipulating DOM elements to their will. They see browser APIs as the foundation of their process rather than puzzling concepts pulled from Stackoverflow answers. I wish that were true, I have not s…

By the time you build your solution in native DOM, you've missed the market.

This is why we don't write applications in assembler.

If performance is your only metric, write Rust and target WASM. But that's probably not the right solution for 95% of cases.

Re: The art of Front end Engineering

#15

Post by leephillips »

nbardy wrote: post #13
austincheney wrote: post #11

There’s a deep understanding of the tools they use every day. They may use a framework as a starting point, but they also understand the JavaScript that makes the underlying work. They leverage CSS like a fluent language, manipulating DOM elements to their will. They see browser APIs as the foundation of their process rather than puzzling concepts pulled from Stackoverflow answers. I wish that were true, I have not s…

This is pretty drab. I can be up and started in about two minutes with React, typescript and parcel.

He didn’t say “started”, but up and running. I interpret that as having a basic working site.

Re: The art of Front end Engineering

#16

Post by leephillips »

I felt alienated by the first paragraph.

“As the web continues to expand, the tools we use for work and leisure have become synonymous with a URL in the browser.”

No, they have not. I rarely use web tools.

“The need for applications that marry the best in design and development has never been so high.”

I have no idea what this is supposed to mean.

“A frontend engineer brings these pieces together in an interface made to delight with every interaction.”

Even if I used web tools, I’m not ready to have sex with my word processor.

“So, what makes a great Frontend Engineer and why is it so special?”

I can’t parse this. What is “it”?

Re: The art of Front end Engineering

#17

Post by bryanrasmussen »

leephillips wrote: post #16

I felt alienated by the first paragraph. “As the web continues to expand, the tools we use for work and leisure have become synonymous with a URL in the browser.” No, they have not. I rarely use web tools. “The need for applications that marry the best in design and development has never been so high.” I have no idea what this is supposed to mean. “A frontend engineer brings these pieces together in an interface made…

>“A frontend engineer brings these pieces together in an interface made to delight with every interaction.”

>Even if I used web tools, I’m not ready to have sex with my word processor.

I was thinking delight used in the same way a foodie uses it.

Re: The art of Front end Engineering

#19

Post by throwawayboise »

leephillips wrote: post #16

I felt alienated by the first paragraph. “As the web continues to expand, the tools we use for work and leisure have become synonymous with a URL in the browser.” No, they have not. I rarely use web tools. “The need for applications that marry the best in design and development has never been so high.” I have no idea what this is supposed to mean. “A frontend engineer brings these pieces together in an interface made…

The phrase "delight the user" has always rubbed me the wrong way. I cannot recall ever being "delighted" by software. Frustrated often, yes. Not frustrating != delightful. Sometimes I have even been impressed, but that's different from delight.

Mostly the phrase "delight the user" is a red flag that the speaker is spouting buzzwords.

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