How a Code Framework Speeds Up Digital Innovation
The digital commerce industry seemingly changes every day. Customer expectations, new technologies, and innovative solutions are changing before our eyes. This means that the people building these solutions – developers – also are forced to match this rate of change.
One of the ways they do this is through code frameworks. Code frameworks have become increasingly popular in recent years because they provide an enhanced “platform” from which to build new applications. A code framework provides reusable code that allows developers to eschew “reinventing the wheel” and instead focus on more efficiently developing new features, functions, and solutions.
Code Frameworks: Different Shapes and Sizes
A code framework may come in several languages. These range from PHP frameworks such as CakePHP, Laravel, and Codeigniter, to Javascript frameworks like nodeJS, React, Angular, and Vue.
The use of a code framework as a project’s starting point drastically accelerates time-to-release by saving developers and teams significant effort and time recreating functions and classes over and over from project to project.
Essentially, frameworks provide pre-built code modules that can be used to get a project up and running quickly. In addition, because some of the design and implementation choices are inherent to the framework, they also provide a basic source code structure , which translates into a common method of implementation.
Choosing The Right Code Framework
Each framework has its own unique features yet also shares similarities to others. Choosing which framework is best should be up to the needs of a project. A ‘lightweight’ framework might be better suited for a project that needs to get up quickly and doesn’t require as many code changes to facilitate integration. Without the many prerequisites that have to be met before new functionality can be implemented, this base can get folks to market quickly through a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) strategy.
Some common features of a framework might be a login feature and account creation for custom projects. Another might be a list of members and/or the ability to search through members to pull data. Framework features can vary from framework to framework and should be taken into consideration when choosing one that works best for your project.
Code Frameworks as a Platform
While a framework typically involves just software, it can be combined with a set of cloud-based servers and other infrastructure to create a “platform.” For example, when this is deployed on a vendor’s hardware, you have “Software as a Service” (SaaS). Yes, code frameworks are the basis for the high-tech platforms central to the Saas industry!
Our experience with these frameworks runs deep: we essentially use these for many of our client implementation projects by developing their sites on Salesforce Commerce Cloud. While this fits the definition of a platform providing software as a service, our code has all the hallmarks of a framework for eCommerce implementations. This enables us to deliver fast, repeatable, and predictable results for our commerce implementation clients.
The pace of change in our industry isn’t slowing down any time soon – if anything, it’s only getting faster. With code frameworks, though, developers can rest assured that they have a strong foundation for addressing changing expectations and driving results in the future.
