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Show HN: Front-end framework optimized for internal apps

getflakes.com

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Re: Show HN: Front-end framework optimized for internal apps

#31

Post by raziel2p »

sensecall wrote: post #24
krat0sprakhar wrote: post #3

This is a pleasant change. My goto framework for internal apps is Bootstrap (no surprise there) although I actually end up using only a handful of elements. Flakes looks like a good enough collection of elements to cover 95% of my use cases. Definitely going to use this in my next app. Thanks for sharing!

If you use Bootstrap Sass, you could look into only including the components that you actually use – can help reduce Bootstrap bloat big time.

Why single out the SASS version? If you compile LESS files you have the same option. I also think Bootstrap has a form on its website which compiles the CSS with the components you want, without having to install/run a preprocessor.

Re: Show HN: Front-end framework optimized for internal apps

#33

Post by tracker1 »

mhd wrote: post #7
rrrx3 wrote: post #5

I'd like to understand more about the rationale that led you down the path of creating this. In my years in enterprise, user and market research has driven the push to create UIs that are more compelling, that make users feel more at home and comfortable (as they would be with mobile and consumer products), while maintaining a more narrow focus on tasks instead of providing a generic one-size fits all paradigm. This…

I'd like to work in that progressive sector of the enterprise, mine is still full of Swing, extjs and even Tk.

extjs isn't so bad.. My only complaints would be all the themes look a bit dated (and squashed on a large display), and I don't like OO paradigms in JS so much and ext is really heavy OO.

Re: Show HN: Front-end framework optimized for internal apps

#35

Post by tracker1 »

raziel2p wrote: post #31
sensecall wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you use Bootstrap Sass, you could look into only including the components that you actually use – can help reduce Bootstrap bloat big time.

Why single out the SASS version? If you compile LESS files you have the same option. I also think Bootstrap has a form on its website which compiles the CSS with the components you want, without having to install/run a preprocessor.

I've always used the Less version myself as a base for customization... lately, I'll npm it in as a requirement... copy out the bootstrap.less and variables.less into my project, update the references and work from there. It's relatively straight forward to do so... from there, I can comment out the parts I don't use. variables.less is mainly copied as a reference point... In my app.less, I include the bootstrap variables, then my own variables, then the rest of bootstrap, then my application less files.

At this point sass doesn't really offer much over less (other than a slightly stronger presence in the design community). I'm using node mostly, which fits in better for me, and makes less a better/tighter fit.

For better or worse, being able to bring in less, react and the like combined with SPDY/HTTP2 will bring some interesting development as things progress. Right now transpiling ES6/7 stuff to ES5 is probably the biggest bottleneck in terms of serving applications closer to as-is.

Re: Show HN: Front-end framework optimized for internal apps

#37

Post by rrrx3 »

whizzkid wrote: post #8
rrrx3 wrote: post #5

I'd like to understand more about the rationale that led you down the path of creating this. In my years in enterprise, user and market research has driven the push to create UIs that are more compelling, that make users feel more at home and comfortable (as they would be with mobile and consumer products), while maintaining a more narrow focus on tasks instead of providing a generic one-size fits all paradigm. This…

I actually think the opposite. The way it is built is just perfect to get used to automation of hands. You have the feeling right away that you can use "tab" and "space" to change/fill/move things in those. Putting more fancy things and making it not "boring" is not an easy job and most of the time fails i think. "make users feel more at home" will lead users to be focusing less time on the actual task and more time…

The research shows that there should be a greater convergence because of the cognitive dissonance that occurs otherwise. It is an inarguable fact that people are using software in all aspects of their lives - to have a simplified, straightforward experience in one instance and not the other is a huge source of frustration. I'm not trying to insinuate that making things "not boring" and simplifying is in any way easy. There are plenty of consumer apps that get this totally wrong.

As far as "making them feel more at home" - the more comfortable a user is with an application, the less likely they are to make mistakes. The less mistakes, the more efficiency. The more efficiency, the either: A) less time spent in the application (for ad-hoc, or get in and get out applications - a common staple) or B) more tasks accomplished (for bread-and-butter, run the business, 24/7/365 applications)

I want to be clear - I think that what has been built is an excellent job wrt technical implementation.

However, the driving design justification seems wholly contrary to the direction the industry is (trying) to move toward.

Re: Show HN: Front-end framework optimized for internal apps

#38

Post by tracker1 »

ivansavz wrote: post #12

What about OpenUI5 for business apps: https://openui5.hana.ondemand.com/#content/Controls/index.ht... From my initial tests, it's very clean MVC (a bit verbose). Also the deploy story is not too good... (frontend code ships as a .war). Does anyone have experience with this, good or bad?

It's relatively clean, but a bit more klunky feeling. It also seems REALLY sluggish... Not sure if this is typical, but it really doesn't feel nice.

I'm also not a huge fan of enterprisey software development.. SAP and most Java projects make me pull my hair out just getting an environment for development setup.

Re: Show HN: Front-end framework optimized for internal apps

#39

Post by teknologist »

I feel internal business applications can be visually appealing too. People have to look at these things all day, so why are we so quick to assert that these people are practically robots who can't appreciate comfortable interfaces when we design and build boring apps?

Life can look good all over. Don't succumb to this "business is serious and should therefore be dull and boring" stuff.

Re: Show HN: Front-end framework optimized for internal apps

#40

Post by thirdsun »

This is great - I'm working on internal webapps full time and I often notice how data-heavy apps with high density of information come with their very own challenges that make Bootstrap, Foundation and Co. less of an ideal choice. What looked great in a simple demo, suddenly feels cluttered in boring data grids. Often it turns out that adapting these frameworks to our own requirements, visually and in terms of functionality, is more of a hassle than simply starting from scratch. Which is what I started to do lately.

This, however, seems like a great starting point that I will definitely keep in mind for future projects. I'll need to check how easy it will be to customize and extend it, but it's a great first impression.

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