EmberJS2018: Response
I’ve been using Ember.js at Fitbit Inc. since late 2015. I think this is a good time to, finally, share some thoughts in response to the Ember team’s call for blog posts.
While my experience with Ember.js has been very positive, there is always room for improvement. Here’s my short list in no particular order.
Tree-shaking. Svelte build. Smaller build size.
This feature goes by many names. Ember’s bundled app can become pretty large. Work is already being done to help reduce the build size.
Import Node Modules
While Ember.js has supported ES6's module import syntax, importing an actual module required jumping through a few hoops — create a shim, use broccoli-rollup, and ember-browserify just to name a few. This can easily turn developers away. Work to make this feature “just work” is in progress as well. This feature was called out so much in many EmberJS2018 responses that Edward Faulkner created ember-auto-import addon as a stop-gap solution.
Marketing / Promotion
Do you attend non-Ember.js meetups? I do.
Do you follow non-Ember.js forums, boards, or news feeds? I do this as well.
How often does a presenter talk about Ember.js? Not often, I think.
What bothers me is that there’s a lot of the buzz inside the community but very little outside of it. So what can we do? Well, the community is aware of this (there’s a trend with each item in this list… the community knows!) and is working on some ideas. I’m looking forward to writing more and maybe presenting as well. I can be the change I want to see!
An idea I liked was in pzuraq’s EmberJS2018 response, EmberJS 2018: Ember as a Component-Service Framework, and think it would be a good approach to promote Ember.js. Building on the idea, the guide could teach Ember.js by building two apps.
The first app could be used to teach/promote Ember.js as a component-service framework and describe the app as “ambitious”. The second app could be used to teach/promote the rest of Ember.js and describe the app as “more ambitious”. I used “ambitious” and “more ambitious” for marketing purposes so the developer feels good about their achievements. Shhh, don’t tell anyone. ;)
In-repo Addon/Engine Tests
Currently, in-repo-addon and in-repo-engine tests do not run with the host app’s tests. In order for any of the tests to be included, they need to be in a /test-support folder in the in-repo-addon or in-repo-engine. I want to see this addressed to have better isolation. It will make separating out the in-repo-addon or in-repo-engine from the host app much easier.
I look forward to all of these completing or gaining traction.
