In this article, I’ll present you with a list of 10 libraries to help you start new projects faster. Most of us here at SitePoint find it hard to resist a fresh repo, and we wanted to see if we could narrow down the ideal toolkit for the project-prone developer.
If you’re the kind of developer who likes to fire up new projects often, get them out into the world and see whether they float (validation, as your friend from marketing might call it), then you need a toolkit. Sure, if you spin up something new on your own time once a year, then learning these tools will likely cost you time — this one’s not for you. But if you find yourself losing interest you’ve figured out whether the homepage will be laid out in one column or three, you need all the help you can get.
I selected the tools in this article for their capacity to get you from zero to hero in as little time as possible. Given that the scope here is to bootstrap your project quickly, I’ve also included not just libraries but all kinds of tools that excel in providing time-saving scaffolding and a strong speed advantage. I’ve made a selection to cover different aspects of a project — you might use a few of them together for a winning combo.
Meteor
Meteor is a JavaScript full-stack framework for creating both web and mobile applications.
We can’t talk about fast without mentioning it. Meteor is the king of fast. It does tie you down to its rules and ways of doing things, but if you aim to get a prototype out there as soon as possible, Meteor’s got your back.
One of Meteor’s great features is its server-client shared code capabilities. This saves a lot of time and helps you focus on what’s really important.
It also comes with MongoDB and WebSockets integration right out of the box.
Sails
Sails is a model-view-controller web application framework. This reduces friction for developers who are already familiar with other MVC frameworks regardless of language or platform.
What makes Sails.js unique is how it simplifies the process of creating regular, modern web apps with its simplified data access layer — which is Database agnostic — and REST API blueprints that generate routes and actions based on your application design.
Among other things, it features basic security and role-based access control, and out-of-the-box WebSockets integration, which makes it an excellent choice for real-time applications.
MongoDB + Mongoose
If you’re using MongoDB, then you should profit from its loyal companion, Mongoose. This library helps you easily model your data into schemas, and it assists you with casting and validation, among other things. It’s a brilliant way of getting a lot of boilerplate out of the way that would otherwise drag you down.
We could say this one is a two-in-one, given that it implies the use of MongoDB, which is a fantastic choice whether you’re using Mongoose or not. MongoDB is … well, allow me to quote their website:
MongoDB is a general-purpose, document-based, distributed database built for modern application developers and for the cloud era.
And to wrap it up, they add:
No database makes you more productive.
There you go. What else do you need? Stop procrastinating and get coding!
Lodash
Lodash provides a convenient set of tools to make your everyday coding life more comfortable. It assists you with iterating, ordering, throttling, debouncing, and probably any function that you would end up throwing in a utils file.
One really cool aspect of Lodash is that all of its functions can be imported or even installed separately. No need to clutter your bundles with unnecessary code.
If you just need the throttle function, you can do this:
Continue reading Start New Projects Faster: 10 Scaffolding Web Dev Tools on SitePoint.
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