
Lucien Immink
Sep 18, 2024
Unlocking Seamless Collaboration: Design-First APIs for UI Components

#1about 4 minutes
Overcoming collaboration challenges in UI component development
The typical development process creates delays and context switching when one team consumes components built by another.
#2about 3 minutes
Treating component interfaces as communication contracts
Just as APIs serve as contracts between services, a well-defined component interface can serve as a contract between development teams.
#3about 1 minute
Implementing a design-first approach for UI components
Involve all stakeholders, including providers and consumers, to define a component's API before any implementation work begins.
#4about 3 minutes
Why web components are ideal for framework-agnostic UI
Using framework-agnostic web components prevents upgrade deadlocks and ensures the long-term reusability of your UI library across different technologies.
#5about 1 minute
Understanding the API surface of a web component
A web component's API consists of properties for input, events for output, slots for content placement, and CSS variables for styling.
#6about 3 minutes
Introducing the custom elements manifest standard
The custom elements manifest is a standardized, machine-readable JSON file that describes a web component's API for consumption by various development tools.
#7about 3 minutes
Defining a component's API with a skeleton component
A skeleton component defines the complete API with properties, events, and JSDoc comments, serving as a single source of truth for generating the manifest file.
#8about 3 minutes
Auto-generating interactive documentation and playgrounds
The custom elements manifest enables tools to automatically generate interactive documentation where developers can test properties, styles, and events in a live playground.
#9about 4 minutes
Leveraging automation as a gift for development workflows
A manifest file unlocks powerful automation for linting, testing, generating wrapper components, and providing rich IDE integration with code completion.
#10about 1 minute
Recap of the design-first component development workflow
A summary of using communication contracts, a design-first approach, web components, and the custom elements manifest to achieve seamless collaboration.
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