Goals of UI Components
UI components play a crucial role in modern user interfaces. This article will touch base on some of the primary goals of UI components.
Simplifying and Adding Flexibility to UI Rendering
One of the main purposes of UI components is to simplify and add flexibility to the UI rendering process. Modern-day user interfaces can get complex over time, and they can’t be built without JavaScript. As a result, UI components are entirely JavaScript-driven.
Reducing the Need for Layout XML Updates
UI components were also developed to reduce the need for layout XML updates. This is achieved by moving rendering entirely to JavaScript, making UI components more efficient and easier to maintain.
JavaScript-Driven Admin
A significant push for UI components was to create an admin interface driven entirely by JavaScript. The admin consists of a large number of UI components, including date components, drag and drop components, column components, and more. By having almost all elements in the admin as UI components, they can easily communicate with each other and provide a consistent interface when moving throughout the admin.
Use in Complex Front-End Areas
UI components are not only heavily used in the admin interface but also beneficial in complex front-end areas, such as the checkout process or custom interfaces involving client-specific functionality. They facilitate the creation of components out of smaller components, contributing to composability and reusability throughout your app.
Passing Data Around
Another goal of UI components is to manage data efficiently. The server usually primes the UI components with data, which is used upon the initialization of the component. UI components are built in a way where Magento back-end data objects are closely bound to the UI. Ajax is used to call the server, and the data passed back is bound directly to the component, dynamically re-rendering components as data changes.
Creating a Domain-Specific Language (DSL)
The overarching goal of UI components was to create a domain-specific language (DSL) for streamlining the process of building and managing user interfaces. This DSL allows developers to create UI components that are easier to maintain, more flexible, and more efficient.