Software frameworks provide foundation for developing software applications. These may include things such as compilers, libraries, or other programs that assists in the development of your software. Specifically, a UI Framework is essentially a package that contains pre-written, standardized codes. These codes provide a base for the user to work on. It makes it much easier to provide functionality for your user interface while still maintaining the flexibility of the user interface based on user/programmer preferences. Wow, that sounds great! That makes UI development a piece of cake, right? Not exactly. There is a cost associated with utilizing frameworks, and that is learning how to use them. It can be seen as analagous to learning an entirely new programming language. Although the previous statement was bit exaggerated, it is definitely not an easy task to learn how to use frameworks. However, if an individual is serious about web development, they should heavily consider learning many different frameworks to add to their list of skills. Not only would it look good on a resume, but it would seriously, and positively develop that individual as a competent web developer.
One of the UI frameworks is Semantic UI. One of the distinguishing features of Semantic UI is that it is human-friendly. What does this mean? It means that their language is a bit more intuitive than other languages. Instead of names like listThreeItem, you would simply call it a “three item list”. That was not a really great example, was it? You can totally tell what listThreeItem means already! Well, what about buttonActiveUI? In Semantic UI, that would just be a “ui active button”. It is easy to observe that the language used in Semantic UI is very close to our everyday English. This means that Semantic UI is not TOO difficult to learn, although there still are challenges associated with it. In addition, it has multiple UI features such as dropdowns, menus, columns, and grids that add to the functionality and aesthetics of websites. Based on my personal expeprience of Semantic UI, it is a great tool for developing simple, yet functional and aesthetically pleasing websites.
Other UI frameworks exist such as Bootstrap and Foundation. While I am not too familiar with these UI frameworks, I do know that they are not any short of what Semantic UI provides. Bootstrap is the most popular framework of choice out of the three. I am very hopeful and excited to work with more frameworks outside of Semantic UI. It would be interesting to note differences and similarities between the UI frameworks.