Some hills are so steep they seem endless. So has it been for the web development community—longing for a visual way to build front ends that harmonizes with real, evolving code.
Today I’m excited to announce the open beta of MightyMeld, a dev tool that does just that, for front ends of unbounded complexity, with complete authenticity to source code. We designed MightyMeld to be simple to set up, architecturally agnostic, and work on any existing React web app.
In this article, we’ll explore the architecture that drives MightyMeld. Several systems come together to meld your running web app, its source code, the live DOM, and an editable visualization of your web app’s code together into a single, unified user experience.
We think of MightyMeld as a “web app studio.” As Photoshop operates on images, MightyMeld operates on a running web app. Your web app, running in its typical dev environment, is the central object.
Generative AI seems to be all anyone has been talking about, promising groundbreaking capabilities and seemingly limitless potential. As the initial excitement subsides, we're beginning to see both the strengths and limitations of this transformative technology, particularly in the realm of front-end web development.
For us React developers, the benefits of gen AI go beyond Copilot-style code completion. In this blog post, we'll delve into the world of generative AI, explore its implications for front-end development, and discuss how MightyMeld is leveraging this technology to empower developers to create even more sophisticated web experiences.
Front-end web development has come a long way since the early days of HTML and CSS. We have components, design systems, and all kinds of goodies built into the browser. Despite these advances, the divide between front-end engineering and design seems to be growing with every passing year. Developers and designers find themselves on opposing sides, striving to collaborate effectively but constrained by the institutionalized separation of their roles.
Fortunately the tides are turning. New tech is bridging the gap, and the lives of front-end developers will never be the same.
When should I use presentational components? What if I want the benefits of purely visual components without having to separate presentation from logic?
Separation of presentation from logic has been an ongoing pursuit throughout the history of front-end development. Why? We are trained as engineers to separate concerns. If the UI is isolated, then business logic can change without requiring a UI update (and vice versa).
I’ve been working for over a year to improve the working relationship between web designers and engineers. The current best practice is characterized by the “design handoff”, where designers provide pictures of app screens to engineers for implementation. Approaching this problem, it’s hard not to notice a grassy knoll littered with tombstones: the hill that others have died on, trying and failing to “eliminate the handoff”.
The Great Divide: