The idea with components is that you will package up HTML, CSS and JS together into a single re-usable module. This is different from how a lot of traditional front-end code is written. We don't have a giant folder full of JavaScript and another folder full of styles and hope they fit together.
- How package management works in the browser
- Component.io
- Creating a simple component
- Get away from building monolithic front-end libraries
- Intermediate level of JavaScript experience
- Basic level of CSS experience
- Basic understanding of package managers
- You know how to write a JSON file
- Basic understanding of Git
If you're unsure about any of these topics go and do some basic reading before the workshop.
You'll need a few things installed before attending the workshop so you can be ready to start straight away. If you can't get these installed there will be plenty of people available on the Friday that can help get you setup.
You'll need node 0.10 installed. For both Mac and Windows you can get this from the node.js website.
After node is installed, you need to install Component.
npm install -g component@~1
To check if this is installed run component --version on the command line. We're going to use the release candidate for this workshop.
To keep the class consistent we'll be using chrome during the workshop. This isn't a hard requirement but it will make it easier if we're all using the same browser.
Good luck. You might want to dual-boot or use a VM. I can't guarantee everything will work on Windows simply because we don't use them.
Here are some additional links for Thinking in Components:
https://github.com/component/component/wiki/Building-better-components
One of the original articles written by TJ about Component.
https://github.com/suitcss/suit
Writing component-based CSS is also very, very important.
https://github.com/component/guide
Community-driven guide to using Component
Learn how to write component-based code for the browser using Component.io.