Recently I’ve been learning a new framework called Semantic UI. Semantic UI claims to prioritize understandability in a programmers code. For example, when creating an unordered list you use syntax like ‘ul’ or ‘li’, Semantic UI says that these abbreviations are not easily understood by persons looking at the code if they are not familiar with web development. Instead Semantic UI replaces the these older HTML syntax with words that are simpler to understand, ‘li’ is replaced with ‘item’. By having code that utilize simple, everyday vocabulary it would make it easier for programmers to pick up this framework as well as have other programmers understand easier your own code. Changing and replacing words isn’t the only feature Semantic UI brings to your table. There are so many features I do not have it in me to list and describe each one down in this essay. Feel free to explore the content your self in their website, Semantic UI.
Why bother to use something like Semantic UI? What are you getting in return for your investment of time and frustration? Why not just use raw HTML and CSS? What are the software engineering benefits of UI frameworks?
Good old HTML and CSS. You can’t go wrong using the two most basic elements of web development but things can get complicated and certain things are just impossible. By choosing to use a framework you are giving yourself such a greater range of creativity to work with. Your web pages and web apps can come alive and look amazing. And if your old websites were already pretty nice it’ll increase it’s charm exponentially. Not only does using frameworks increase the looks of your applications they also make it more dynamic. Your page can start living and breathing. Unlike that of pure html and css pages. It may take a little time to figure our a framework but the benefits far outweigh the cost. Learning a good framework is a great thing to do. So do it now!
Did you find Semantic UI difficult to learn, or easy? If you’ve used another framework, such as Twitter Bootstrap, how does Semantic UI compare?
I’ve used Bootstrap for a little bit and found it useful but I was not able to really dig into it because of time limitations or some other things going on in my life. But since I was forced to learn Semantic UI through a college course I was able to really get into the framework. I’m not really able to compare in great detail the two but I am able to state, with confidance, that Semantic UI is a very useful tool in my belt.