You need a framework for your development.
When you work in software, it’s easy to get lost in the code.
I have to admit: I’m a hard-core developer. I live and breathe code. But that doesn’t mean it always comes easy.
Some days, I feel like my mind is in a fog. My head is filled with “lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.” Code is just gibberish to me. The visual cues—the colors, the typefaces, the layout—all of it feels hard to process.
That’s why, when I work in software, I always make sure to use a framework. A framework gives me a sense of structure and purpose. It helps keep me focused on what really matters. And that’s important, because as a developer, you can be pulled in many different directions by your code.
A framework helps you keep everything organized so you can stay on track.
Learning to code is a daunting task, especially if you’ve struggled with learning in the past. Studies show that people with dyslexia struggle more than others with processing visual information.
The programming world is full of visual cues and abstract concepts. This makes it difficult for us dyslexics to process and understand the information we are given. Without a framework, it’s easy to get lost and give up.
Frameworks provide structure and guidelines that help you navigate through the vast amount of information you need to learn. They help you understand how all the pieces fit together and work as a system. They provide a solid foundation for you to build upon. A good framework removes the cognitive load of trying to mentally process what’s going on. You can focus on building instead of trying to figure out how everything works together.
I believe that frameworks are essential for those who struggle with processing visual information like dyslexics do. The best way I can learn is by following examples, seeing how things work, then applying it myself. Frameworks give me this structure I need in order to make progress and succeed in my learning process.
Frameworks are not just for beginners though; experienced developers use them too! When starting a new project, they help you focus on building your app instead of
I’m a big believer in frameworks. I’ve used them in my personal and professional life for years.
I was having an email conversation with a friend the other day and I mentioned that I like Angular. He replied, “I don’t know anything about it, but it sounds like something I definitely need to learn.”
I laughed because he’s right. Angular is a framework created by Google to help you build web applications.
Our brains are constantly trying to find patterns, and one pattern we see everywhere is visual cues. Visual cues are critical for our survival — they allow us to quickly recognize that a tiger is about to eat us before our brain has had time to process it.
Frameworks are essentially visual cues that our brains can use to process information more quickly. You can think of HTML as a framework for displaying information on the web — it provides the visual cues for your brain to process what you see without needing any further information or context.
A framework is a pattern of organization (visual cues) that make up a larger system with its own set of rules. Frameworks can be applied at multiple levels in software development — from the overall architecture of your application down to the individual components inside your codebase.
The problem is that when we see a picture, our brains try to make sense of what we’re seeing quickly. As a result, you can easily get lost as your brain tries to process all of the information it’s seeing.
Think about it this way: if you look at a picture of a city street, you could probably tell me that there are cars and pedestrians on it. But in order to do so, your brain has to piece together bits of information from different parts of the image. You might know that the red blob near the bottom left is a car because you’ve seen one before, or because there are other cars nearby. Likewise, the blue rectangle near the center could be interpreted as a window or as a door. Your brain has to make some assumptions in order to turn this jumble of shapes into useful information.
This process happens so quickly that we don’t even notice it happening – but it still takes time, and can be difficult for some people to do effectively.
A few months ago I was working with a customer on their front-end architecture. They had recently committed to a modern front-end stack, so we were discussing how best to get started with it. One of the developers on the team was struggling with understanding how the various parts of the stack were supposed to fit together.
The developer in question has a visual processing disorder, which means that they find it hard to understand things that are presented as diagrams or flow charts. This is a common problem for people who are on the autistic spectrum.
I mentioned this when talking about my experience of working with him, and got an interesting response from another developer: “So you’re saying we should write down the flow charts?”
Yes! Well, maybe not flow charts specifically… but frameworks in general.
If you look at the definition of the word Framework, it says: “a basic conceptual structure (as for a written work).” A definition about a basic conceptual structure for software development doesn’t sound very exciting but it’s an essential part of our life as developers.
The more experience you have, the easier it is to find good frameworks and the less time they will take to learn. They also help us write code that’s easier to read, understand and maintain. Let me give you an example.
We all know there are three ways to style HTML: inline styles, Internal Stylesheet and External Stylesheet. I would argue that everyone would benefit from using a CSS framework when they start learning HTML and CSS instead of starting with Inline Styles. Here are a few reasons why:
Frameworks are created by experts who have been working on their own way of doing things for a long time. Not only will you learn from them, but by using a framework, you’re not reinventing the wheel every time you start a new project. Which means you can put your energy into new problems instead of old ones that were already solved for you.
A framework teaches you how to organize your code so it makes sense to people (and future-you). It’s very easy
A low code platform is a software development platform that allows for the rapid creation of applications through graphical user interfaces and configuration instead of traditional hand-coding. Low code platforms have become popular with non-professional developers, in particular citizen developers who wish to create bespoke business applications without having to rely on professional IT specialists.
These solutions are typically delivered as a service (SaaS), via a web browser, and often use drag-and-drop functionality to allow rapid creation of user interfaces, forms and reports. The low code approach has its roots in the early days of software development, when tools like Microsoft Access were used by business users to create desktop applications that were distributed via floppy disks. In the late 1990s, tools such as Visual Basic made it easy for developers to build simple programs using graphical components.
Today’s low code platforms are significantly more sophisticated than these early tools, offering a wide range of functionality to power enterprise grade applications that can be deployed in the cloud or on-premises. The approach is particularly suited to creating simpler apps that do not require complex logic or integration with other systems.