Should you use UI Frameworks? Well, It Depends...

*Without UI Framework*

*With UI Framework*

While UI frameworks have their benefits, they are not without their flaws. UI frameworks are beneficial because they provide a basic way to implement visually appealing web pages without the developer needing to have extensive knowledge in CSS. However, depending upon the web page and its requirements, UI frameworks may not necessarily have enough tools or reliability to be viable. Thus UI frameworks are a great starting tool, but not necessarily a permanent solution.

Creating clean, appealing and functional web pages, without really fully understanding the CSS going on behind the scenes is probably the main reason UI frameworks are so useful. Depending on the website in question, the open-source model of many UI frameworks make them appealing for professionals, hobbyists and students to create attractive web pages without needing to spend much time and resources. In addition the relative abundance of documentation and online forums/tutorials also make UI frameworks accessible to developers. Ultimately UI frameworks allow unskilled individuals the ability to create good-looking web pages with minimal instructions and knowledge. This puts the necessary tools in the hands of a wider audience and gives them the chance to more easily create their own customized web pages compared to before with just raw HTML and CSS.

While UI frameworks can fit the needs of certain websites, ultimately, UI frameworks do not teach the raw HTML and CSS underlying them. This lack in raw HTML and CSS knowledge can limit certain developers in what they can create because UI frameworks only have so much functionality. If the needs of a developer surpass what a UI framework can do, the developer has no choice but to either learn raw HTML and CSS or stay content with their current design. The dependency web pages have on the actual UI framework functions also makes their use undesirable in certain cases as well. Unless the UI framework comes directly from within the developer, most times developers use third party UI frameworks in their applications. This dependency upon other people’s software can sometimes create problems and is another undesirable aspect of UI frameworks.

Overall, in most cases, UI frameworks are a go-to for many developers. UI frameworks can streamline workflow and increase productivity in many cases. However, because they are frameworks, they have their flaws. Limitations in functionality as well as access to the actual code of UI frameworks makes them sometimes impossible to actually implement in certain instances.