Monthly Archives: December 2022

The Best Collaboration Tools for Software Development

The Best Collaboration Tools for Software Development

Introduction

Collaboration is essential today, whether you work on a small or large team of software developers. Collaboration tools are used by businesses of all sizes, from the smallest to the largest. Why is this the case?

Since the emergence of the coronavirus, business practices have had to change quickly. People relied heavily on the Internet at the time, and as a result, they realized that it provided some previously insignificant benefits. Working from home, video meetings, increased team member engagement in all project activities, and reliance on applications for reminders and noise reduction are just a few of the advantages that the new way of doing business has introduced.

Collaboration tools have taken on a much larger role than before for all of this to be feasible and beneficial to the employer. Collaboration tools assist software developers in staying on the same page. There are numerous such tools available, making the selection difficult.

Collaboration tools can be divided into several categories:

  • Communication tools
  • Team collaboration tools
  • Tools for issue tracking
  • File and document sharing tools
  • Code review and version control tools
  • CI/CD tools

To make the selection of collaboration tools easier, we have chosen tools that we believe are leaders in their respective categories.

Communication tools

Everything in business begins with communication. Even software developers attend daily meetings and must communicate with clients, project managers, and the rest of the team.

Communication tools are one of the most important and communication means chat, audio, or video meetings.

In this category, two tools stand out: Slack and Microsoft Teams. Slack is a communication app that pioneered the idea of grouping other communication elements such as chat groups, file sharing, audio and video meetings, and chatbots. It now has a slew of competitors, including Microsoft Teams and Discord. Fortunately, Slack has maintained its lead and continues to outperform the competition in terms of communication.

Slack is now a team collaboration tool with a primary focus on communication. It provides a comprehensive list of additional tools and services that can be integrated into Slack to make the tool even more tailored to the needs of users.

Microsoft Teams, on the other hand, is a very popular communication tool, but unlike Slack, its primary focus is complete team collaboration rather than communication. However, it should be noted that Microsoft Teams was inspired by Slack. Slack currently has an advantage because of this, as well as the fact that it is a much younger tool.

Discord is also a popular communication tool, though not as much in the business world as it is in the gaming world. This tool was created to facilitate communication between organizations, communities, and gamers in mind.

Other communication tools worth mentioning are Zoom, Skype, and Google Meet, which are frequently used but are not high on our priority list.

Team collaboration tools

We mentioned Slack and Microsoft Teams as communication tools in the previous category, but we also stated that they are complete team collaboration tools. Slack continues to trail in this category, while Microsoft Teams takes the lead. However, are there any other tools in this category that could be better than these two?

Confluence is a team collaboration tool that allows for the general exchange of knowledge within a team. These tools are frequently referred to as Team Workspace tools. To put it simply, think of Confluence as a modern digital whiteboard with all the collaboration add-ons you could want. Unlike Slack and Microsoft Teams, which are more general tools for everything, Confluence focuses solely on tools that aid in the processing of the most commonly done topics. It concentrates on the essence of each conversation and ensures that the message is communicated to all team members.

Tools for issue tracking

Issue tracking is a critical component of team collaboration with software developers, and this process must be accompanied by a high-quality tool. When it comes to issue tracking, there are several options, but two that stand out are Jira and GitHub Issues.

It is critical during software development that each team member has a clearly defined task and that its life cycle can be followed from beginning to end. The entire project is divided into a series of small tasks that are distributed among the team members. These tasks have a deadline and must go through certain stages before being marked as completed. As a result, all members of the development team have a clear picture of the project’s current state, which provides a clear picture of the direction and speed with which development will continue.

Jira is the market leader in this category. Originally designed only for bug tracking, it has evolved into a full-fledged work management tool. The story is similar to that of Slack in that it is the tool that has been around the longest and is most concerned with resolving this specific issue. It provides the most widely used templates for implementing Kanban, Scrum, Bug tracking, and DevOps.

GitHub Issues is Jira’s only real competitor, but because GitHub is behind it, the tool is still in its infancy. GitHub is attempting to develop tools in almost all of the categories we listed, but it will take time to determine which of those GitHub tools has the potential to replace one of the current leaders in their respective categories. In other words, while GitHub has many high-quality tools, it lags behind the competition because all of the tools are relatively new.

Asana, GitLab Issues, and Trello are also quality issue-tracking tools worth mentioning, but they are not as well-known as the two already mentioned.

What is important to understand about these tools is that they can also be used as team collaboration tools, as issue tracking is only one aspect of team collaboration.

File and document sharing tools

Files and documents are the foundation of every individual’s computer work, especially for software developers because they are the ones who create such files or software in the first place.

Previously, all data was stored as physical copies inside folders and physically copied in multiple copies for team members. Now, everything is done virtually. That is why it is critical to have specific tools for this as well as private storage where the data will be saved. By data, we mean files, documents, and other material required for software development in general.

When it comes to file sharing, the choice usually comes down to Google or Microsoft because they are the leaders in organizational tools. For file sharing, Google offers Google Drive, while Microsoft offers OneDrive. Microsoft has Sharepoint as well, but it is far less popular.

When it comes to document sharing, the choice is once again between Google and Microsoft, with the exception that their other tools are used. Google provides Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, whereas Microsoft provides Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

These two companies are not by chance the leaders of the world’s leading tools. Both companies provide toolkits that cover nearly all of the categories we’ve mentioned. Google Workspace (formerly known as G Suite) includes all of the tools mentioned above, as well as many more. Furthermore, Microsoft includes all of the tools mentioned above, as well as many more, as part of its Microsoft Office 365 package.

Confluence, which also provides excellent options for document sharing, is the only tool that comes close to these two titans in this category.

Code review and version control tools

Code review is critical for software developers not only for code correctness, finding and removing errors but also for team synergy and knowledge sharing.

Code review is typically done by software developers in a team so that everyone reviews the code, but in smaller teams, this responsibility is frequently delegated to one software developer.

Version control tools enable a team of software developers to develop faster, safer, and more productively, as well as to experiment while having visibility into code errors.

Because GitHub is the leading version control platform, it has the best built-in code review tools that can be used concurrently during development. GitHub is not like other platforms for this purpose, especially since Microsoft acquired it. Fortunately, Microsoft did an excellent job here and continued to develop the platform in the right direction, allowing the open source to gain significant popularity. GitHub is an excellent platform for both business and personal use.

GitLab and Bitbucket are the only two platforms that are alternatives to GitHub. The two platforms also support code review and version control tools, but they have fewer active users than GitHub.

The differences between the three platforms are minor. However, because GitHub is the oldest platform, it has the largest market share and the largest community. GitLab and Bitbucket are much younger, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be better platforms.

CI/CD tools

Because today’s software is so complex, it takes a significant amount of time to make adjustments before beginning development, during development, and after completion to maintain it. Automation emerged as a solution to this issue.

CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment or Continuous Delivery) is a concept that represents a series of steps that must be taken to deliver a new version of the software. All of the necessary steps can be completed manually, but because they take a long time, they are automated, and this process is known as the CI/CD pipeline. The most common application of automation is in the phases of development, testing, production, and general monitoring of the software development lifecycle. Automation allows software developers to concentrate on writing code as much as possible, which improves code quality and development speed.

Jenkins is the most well-known tool in this category, and it currently produces the best results. It is a free and open automation server. It includes a plethora of plugins that can be used to create, deliver, and automate any project. Jenkins can be configured as a simple CI server as well as a continuous delivery hub for any project.

Another CI/CD tool that stands out in this category is GitHub Actions. Jenkins is a much more mature tool that is open source, as opposed to GitHub Actions, which is not entirely free but does offer paid packages. Both tools do a good job, but Jenkins is more popular in the corporate world and is preferred by businesses, whereas GitHub Actions is more popular among software developers for personal use.

In addition to the two tools mentioned above, CircleCI, GitLab CI, Travis CI, Azure DevOps, and many others compete in this category.

Conclusion

We can draw several conclusions from this post about collaboration tools used by software developers.

Collaboration tools were developed not only because the new situation demanded a change in business practices, but also to increase the productivity of software developers.

Choosing a tool from the above categories is frequently influenced by several factors. These elements may include the following:

  • How old is the tool?
  • Which tool is most familiar to the majority of the development team?
  • Which tool is currently the most popular, and what distinguishes it from the others?
  • What is the IT company’s current tech stack, i.e. which tools are already subscribed to?

Does this imply that the oldest tool is also the best? Of course not, as previously stated, older tools have an advantage because they built a large community during that period and have the most popularity. That doesn’t mean that some younger tools can’t outperform the current leaders in their respective categories.

Another important factor in tool selection is the IT company’s technology stack. Even if a tool is the best in its category, there are times when IT departments will choose less popular tools. The reason for this is that other companies that provide them with services as part of the package also provide their versions of those tools, and using those tools is more profitable for the IT company because they are already subscribed to their services.

This is completely normal, especially since software developers are already accustomed to using specific tools from those packages, so switching to others may take more time and introduce new potential problems. Google and Microsoft are perhaps the most basic and best examples. What are the chances that an IT company will use Microsoft OneDrive if it uses Google Mail, or Google Drive if it uses Microsoft Office365? So you get the idea.

When selecting a tool, keep in mind that tools designed to perform one or a small number of similar and related tasks are usually of higher quality than those designed to perform a large number of different tasks from different categories in parallel. This is not always true, but it is in most cases.

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Top 10 React UI Component Libraries

Top 10 React UI Component Libraries

Introduction

To create a website or application, the UI (User Interface) must be divided into functional units and then created individually. These units are commonly referred to as components. A component can be any functional part of the UI, such as a menu, carousel, table, loader, chart, or paginator, but the most common example of a component is a button.

Beginners make each new component from scratch because they don’t understand why they’re being made. Components are designed to be reused. As a result, rather than creating a button from scratch, the developer will be able to reuse the button he has already created as a component elsewhere. When developing the application, it is a good idea to immediately think in this direction.

However, in this manner, developers waste a significant amount of time dealing with design rather than focusing on the functionality of the components. This method of application development works well for small projects but not for large ones. As a result, different UI component libraries can be used to accelerate development on larger projects. UI component libraries significantly reduce development time by providing a large number of pre-built components with the same design.

To enable the creation of single-page applications, React relies on components. Because React is so popular and has such a large community, there are a plethora of UI component libraries created specifically for React.

In this article, we will look at the top 10 React UI component libraries.

1. Ant Design

Ant Design, abbreviated as AntD, is a React library and enterprise-class UI for web applications. It is one of the most popular React UI component libraries.

It includes a plethora of high-quality pre-built components for creating interactive user interfaces. Ant Design is written in TypeScript, which adds to the appeal of this UI component library.

AntDesign is used to build websites such as Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu. It’s no coincidence that these sites were built with Ant Design, the library has Chinese roots.

Official website: Ant Design GitHub: Ant Design GitHub project 83.2k stars, 37.1k forks

2. Material UI (MIU)

Material UI is one of the most widely used React UI component libraries. Because of its minimalist design and simplicity, MIU is widely used and frequently used as a go-to option. Another reason for this library’s popularity is the variety of components it offers. In addition to components, it offers a variety of themes that aid in the development of a website or web application.

MIU has excellent documentation and is simple to use, which is very important and has undoubtedly contributed to the library’s global acceptance. Some things are provided for free, while others must be purchased.

This UI component library has an excellent structure and is designed to be apply to any type of web application.

Official website: MUI GitHub: MUI GitHub project 83k stars, 28.6k forks

3. Semantic UI

Another well-known React UI component library is Semantic UI. To be fully compatible with React, the library is jQuery-free. It’s similar to React Bootstrap. It has over 50 components and allows developers to create their web designs.

For beginners, Semantic UI can be quite challenging. It includes semantic components that aid in the creation of responsive HTML layouts. It can also be used with Angular in addition to React.

Semantic UI has comprehensive documentation and allows for customization and theme creation.

Official website: Semantic UI GitHub: Semantic UI GitHub project 50.3k stars, 5.1k forks

4. Chakra UI

Chakra UI provides reusable React and React Native components. It includes more than 50 components for designing layouts, forms, data displays, feedback, typography, overlay, disclosure, navigation, media, and icons.

Chakra UI also allows you to create your components, which is very interesting and appealing, and it also allows for customization. This approach allows this library to be unique across projects.

For beginners, it provides the ability to create simple components that can be used to solve real-world design problems, making the React UI component library simple to learn.

Official website: Chakra UI GitHub: Chakra UI GitHub project 30k stars, 2.7k forks

5. React Bootstrap

React Bootstrap, as the name implies, is a UI component library similar to the original Bootstrap except that it is built in React and has a few differences. Because the emphasis was on using React, it was important to leave out jQuery during development.

Because Bootstrap is the most popular CSS framework and React is a JavaScript framework, the two work well together. If you like Bootstrap and build applications with React, React Bootstrap is an excellent choice.

React Bootstrap provides both free and paid themes. The good news is that you can create your Bootstrap themes.

Official website: React Bootstrap GitHub: React Bootstrap GitHub project 21.3k stars, 3.4k forks

6. Blueprint UI

Blueprint UI is typically used to create complex interfaces for displaying large amounts of data and for desktop applications.

It provides a large selection of packages-separated components, so in addition to classic (CORE) components, it also provides special components such as DATETIME, ICONS, SELECT, TABLE, TIMEZONE, and POPOVER.

Blueprint UI, unlike most other UI component libraries, does not provide themes, but almost all design elements can be customized.

Official website: Blueprint GitHub: Blueprint GitHub project 19.5k stars, 2.1k forks

7. Fluent UI

Fluent UI was formerly known as Fabric React, and Microsoft is the company behind this React UI component library, which it uses in its products. The advantage is that this UI component library works with desktop, Android, and iOS devices.

Microsoft websites such as Office365, Azure DevOps, OneNote, and others use Fluent UI. It has excellent documentation that is updated regularly as new versions of this React UI component library are released.

If you like Microsoft products, Fluent UI is the way to go.

Official website: Fluent UI GitHub: Fluent UI GitHub project 14.3k stars, 2.4k forks

8. Reactstrap

Reactstrap is similar to the previously mentioned React Bootstrap. Both use React but in different ways. Reactstrap was created a few years after React Bootstrap to be a simpler and lighter variant, so it initially has fewer features than React Bootstrap.

This React UI component library has the advantage of being simple to use and learn. The disadvantage is that it has fewer features than similar React UI component libraries. Reactstrap is essentially a React component that already has Bootstrap applied to it so we don’t need to do that.

Reactstrap is used to create responsive websites and web applications, and it includes a variety of customizable components. Allows for the use of plugins and themes.

React Bootstrap or Reactstrap?

Reactstrap is a better choice for beginners, but React Bootstrap is a better choice if you already have experience with React and want more control over Bootstrap components.

Official website: Reactstrap GitHub: Reactstrap GitHub project 10.4k stars, 1.3k forks

9. NextUI

NextUI is a React UI component library designed for front-end developers of all skill levels. You can easily create websites and applications with NextUI, whether you are a beginner or a professional developer. NextUI is a modern React UI component library with beautiful components that is simple to use and fast.

NextUI components support server-side rendering, which is an advantage of this React UI component library. It is also compatible with Next.js.

It allows for simple customization of the available default themes. There are several methods for customizing components. It’s very simple to switch between light and dark UI modes.

NextUI is a relatively new React UI component library, but it already has a sizable GitHub community.

Official website: NextUI GitHub: NextUI GitHub project 8.5k stars, 459 forks

10. Grommet

Grommet is a React UI component library focused on mobile. Unlike minimalist UI libraries like Material UI and AntDesign, Grommet provides slightly more interesting components and themes.

This React UI component library is primarily concerned with responsive design in web applications. Grommet, unlike other React UI component libraries, provides two useful tools Grommet Designer and Grommet Themer.

Grommet Designer is used to create components, whereas Grommet Themer is used to customize basic elements such as fonts and colors.

Grommet has its component library on Storybook, and each component has its code sandbox.

Grommet has a vibrant community, and many large corporations, including Netflix, Uber, and Samsung, have used it.

Official website: Grommet GitHub: Grommet GitHub project 8.1k stars, 995 forks

Conclusion

Web applications or websites can be created without using React UI component libraries or other UI libraries, but the process would be much longer and more complex. UI component libraries were created to facilitate and accelerate the development process of web applications, particularly when using React, which relies on the use of libraries.

If you’re just getting started with React UI component libraries, stick to the most popular and lightweight. You can more easily switch to more advanced and demanding ones after gaining some experience than if you started with them right away.

If you already have experience with such libraries, concentrate on learning the popular ones that you haven’t used before. Follow which React UI component libraries are most commonly used in projects and teams if you work as a developer.

Because such libraries have numerous advantages and are widely used, every developer should be familiar with at least a few React UI component libraries.

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