Component-Based Architecture: 8 Best Practices of Building & Managing Components

Knowing the benefits of component-based development is one of the best ways to create a front-end structure for the future. If you still have to deal with a front-end monolith, now is the right time to start moving toward this modular approach. Here are some essential practices to remember while implementing this architecture:

• Make Universally Acceptable Components

You will utilize the components you create across several applications, not simply the one they were designed for. As a result, it is critical to convey the greater purpose of these components to your engineers, as other teams and individuals will likely utilize them.

• Begin with Decoupled Monolith Features

It’s challenging to work with monolith applications as the functionalities here are highly interdependent. Try to identify the features that can be decoupled and exist by decomposing the monolith into a modular system.

• Build a Design Language System

Design systems are the guidelines of development used in creating the brand identity. The different methods designers use to build the structure of a website are called design systems and can help determine how components are enabled from one platform to another.

These standards help you create a foundation for an integrated theory and practice related to page layouts, page formats, and overall information architecture. They could greatly assist your team members in their daily work while consolidating efforts so that other departments or third-party vendors understand where they have jurisdiction when it comes time to sell some of your products or services.

• Obey the Separation of Concerns Principle

To accomplish the true reusability of components, you must adhere to the separation of concerns principle. Keeping the two logic distinct allows you to maintain flexibility while making life easier for other teams engaging with the component. It is especially true for front-end components when design and business logic are applied to an element at the same time.

• Benefit From The Various Tools at Your Disposal

Many tools are available to help make the job of a front-end developer easier. From managing dependencies to testing environments, here is a list of things you might find helpful while working on your next application:

• Storybook: It allows you to design components for your project in total isolation, letting you focus on the components’ testability and reusability.
• Styleguidist: This dynamic documentation helps you with a brief overview of multiple variations of different components.
• Testing: Various tools can be used to perform different testing strategies for your applications, such as unit testing, integration testing, and end-to-end testing. For this, you can use Postman, Cypress.io, and Jest.
• Linters: It makes coding easier by highlighting programming flaws, bugs, aesthetic problems, and dubious structures.
• Use Atomic Design Methodology

Brad Frost presented Atomic Design, a practical way to develop interfaces inspired by chemistry. It suggests a consistent vocabulary for referring to components and the labeling structure.

The different stages in Atomic Design are:

• Atoms
• Molecules
• Organisms
• Templates
• Pages

By combining this technique with component-based architecture, you are also adopting a generally acknowledged language used by the Atomic Design community worldwide.

• Follow the Single-Responsibility Principle

Even a component can get bloated over time, with different members adding more functionalities for various use cases. In such scenarios the single-responsibility principle can be helpful in such a scenario. When a single component contains many props responsible for too many elements, we can divide these props into multiple more granular components such that each serves a singular purpose only.

• Automate Processes Wherever Possible

The importance of automation in any development, especially component-based development, cannot be overstated. It is encouraged to identify various approaches to automate your development process, as doing so would make it simpler to adhere to established guidelines.

Are you looking to scale your front-end development? In this hands-on tutorial, you can learn how component-based architecture helps build scalable applications.