UI journey of .NET developer — 6-P5.JS and creative coding
In this update, I talk about my continued exploration of different UI technologies. And also, learn them and use them in my work. It’s amazing how many UI technologies and frameworks are out there. Of course, I wont forget the old joke, my former mentor told me.
‘Everyday, somewhere in the world, a new JavaScript framework is born’
This a sequel to my previous post, UI journey of .NET developer — 5-Admin Dashboard and Storybook.
Anyway, lame jokes aside, this time, I will be talking about the super cool P5.JS library. As always, I ran into this library due to a client interaction of mine. Last year, this Australian student client engaged me to teach him JavaScript. Eventually, the training evolved to include P5.JS. I taught him an entire semester worth of P5.JS.
As always, I have this fantastic ability to learn new things on the fly. Until I met this guy, I had not even heard of P5.JS, but less than a week later, I was teaching him P5.JS every week, until he finished his semester. This happens a lot with me.
May be I am some kind of super genius. (james bond villain laugh ensues).
Visual Output
What really appealed P5.JS to me is how it puts simplicity first. Here, look at my current web app to show ‘quotes’ from my ‘random stuff project’.
It’s fine. It’s functional. It looks simple, but, it helps me earn my livelihood, so, I am very happy with it.
Now, it is a website though. Now that I have kids, life has changed a bit for me. It will be a few years until my kids appreciate the developer greatness that is their father, he he :P. I went from single to married to married with kids in a span of six months.
Life has changed.
So, I need to build things that my twin baby girls can apperciate. That means, colours, visuals, things that interact or change. Stuff that would work on the iPhone or the iPad. A website with words and sentences cannot do it. That is why P5.JS has grabbed my attention.
Now, look at this new P5.JS app I am building, as a ‘visual counterpart’ to the above React JS App
This I can show to my kids. You will notice that this image is different from the earlier, headline image. That’s because, right now, the app changes the background color every few seconds.
The randomness is what appeals to me. When I am finished, the visuals of the entire view would change every now and then. The app is still a boring front end for my random stuff api server, but its more colorful now.
When I am done, I want to make it a visual (and perhaps audio) experience. Thanks to covid related complications, my family is far away in another city. I have not seen them in almost 5 months now. So, when I am finally reunited with them, if my kids can use this website for at least a few seconds before they get bored, I will take that as a seal of approval.
Final Note
My UI journey continues. I am also happy that I have a small chance at impressing my just born babies, eventually. Some fathers dance for their kids. Sing songs.
I can build interactive and colorful web apps for my kids.
[A sequel to this post, UI journey of .NET developer — 7-React Redux and SMK Gallery API, is now available.]
I work as a full time freelance software developer and coding tutor. Hire me at UpWork or Fiverr. My personal website is here. I also have a Podcast. Thanks for reading.
