Javascript

Building Apps with No Code? A Web Component Future

Published Oct 28, 2019

Updated Feb 14, 2023

6 min read

This article was written over 18 months ago and may contain information that is out of date. Some content may be relevant but please refer to the relevant official documentation or available resources for the latest information.

Technology is continuing to advance before our very eyes quicker than we can consume or comprehend. We have come far in the past years with website building capabilities. Today, web development is easier because you can search the web for snippets of code to copy and paste onto your site. This method is still unfortunately messy, and people employing this method are typically pasting large amounts of code onto a page that they don’t understand.

The way we build websites continues to change, and advancements are helping us transition to a development world where anyone will be able to build complex applications with simple drag and drop functionality. What enables this? It’s web components. It may be hard to fathom that fully functioning applications could be created with little to no code, but with dedicated minds work to foster this paradigm shift, we are not too far from this. One of the projects working on this initiative is Google’s Polymer project.

Web components are shareable pieces of code that you can easily use in any application. They are a way to encapsulate styles and structure inside of an element such as an input element or a button element. With web components, you can package complex styled components such date pickers and use them on the web. Though web components are still a fairly new concept, the standardization of them is what’s creating our future.

While the standardization process is being developed, projects like Polymer allow web developers to create web components and assist with providing the polyfills needed to make the components work in all browsers.

The idea behind Polymer is to provide a structure for web developers to develop web components and share them without having to worry tasks like dealing with browser compatibility issues. Customization and creation of new web components is something those working on web components are trying to foster in the community. Polymer helps developers take prebuilt Polymer web components and customize them. Allowing greater access to web component creation helps develop the ecosystem and move us closer to mainstreaming web components.

Monica (@notwaldorf) is a self proclaimed emojineer at Google working on the Polymer project. At Google, she focuses on making developer’s lives easier by creating features to give developers more flexibility when developing web components. Monica has spoken at various tech conferences and has a background in computer science.

Some may wonder why Google cares about projects such as Polymer. Monica says, “Google is passionate about web components and Polymer because they make the web ecosystem better. These initiatives help all developers, but they also help Google developers scale code and share it across codebases internally. It allows everyone to stop recreating the wheel.”

Monica reminisces on 1995, the year the first iteration of the input element landed native in the browser. The input element allows web developers to easily specify types such as text, password, checkbox, radio button, and more even today. That was 21 years ago, and not much has changed with the browser APIs. The current browsers still only have have a couple more elements on top of the input, video, and button elements.

“We haven’t made any large leaps like adding date pickers, or responsive modals that work across all browsers. 20 years from now, we will have a large inventory of web elements, and the same way developers are using input elements natively now, then, custom elements will feel natural and we will use them like they were always there.”

Browser standards and adding native elements such as the input element are a slow process due to sensitivity with the API and the agreements across browser teams. Polymer gives the future advancement of the web to the people so the ecosystem can move faster and we can achieve a better web faster.

“Think of Polymer like jQuery for web components. If you were around in the 2000s, jQuery made writing JavaScript for the DOM easy. Polymer does the same thing for web components. It adds syntactic sugaring to make it easy to develop web components and affordances that are missing from the platform like data binding and data propagation.”

Large companies who have adopted web components have had success in using them to standardize their code base. If an organization has multiple projects, they are able to create an internal repository that houses their web components so teams can find ready-made, styled components to use in their applications. An added benefit is standardized components help companies have consistent brand and styles across all teams and web presences.

Polymer components change the way teams work together. If a company used Polymer as an interface for mockups, designers within an organization would be able to drag and drop pre-made elements onto a page to generate useful mocks easily and share those with the development team. It would be easier for companies to enforce strict guidelines of how they want their apps to look with a specific set of visual elements that become the standard. It also make is easier for developers to create MVPs from mocks this way.

Google has its own mockup tool to show developers the ease of using Polymer elements. The site, http://polymer-designer.appspot.com/ may be a bit outdated, but a second iteration of this tool is in the works. The mockup tool is functional now, and allows beginners to get functionality from APIs without understanding the API. Internationalization is a drag and drop feature, as are responsive layouts and elements that store your data offline. You can even have the functionality of Google Maps without writing a single line of code.

Polymer-CLI, a project that launched in 2016, is another initiative by Google that allows developers to start creating web components quickly. The CLI starts developers off with a responsive layout, routes and a Service Worker for offline support..

“Web components have also made the world funner. You can create art, or make components that help others create art. Some of the best web components I’ve created are emoji rain and emojilate. Emoji rain makes it rain emoji on your page, while emojilate takes any picture and converts the pixels to all emoji.”

With the quick advancement of projects like Polymer and the fast adoption of web components in the modern web ecosystem, we can see where the future is taking us, and play a part in history by using web components now.

Many companies have created great free open source components available for public use. A great way to get started is to visit webcomponents.org for a catalog of custom elements. Google’s Polymer team has created a set of custom elements for everyone to use and can be found at https://www.webcomponents.org/author/PolymerElements.

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About the author(s)

Tracy Lee
Partner, This Dot Google Developer Expert (Angular, TC39, Web) RxJS Core Team & Lead for RxJS Learning Team Contributor to Angular, RxJS, EmberJS

Key Strengths:
- Teaching developer relations strategies
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@ladyleet @ladyleet

7 Tips to be a Successful Developer in a Remote Company

When the pandemic hit in March of 2020, most companies were forced to go remote and millions of workers had to learn how to work from home. Two years later, a lot people now prefer the work from home option, and many job seekers are looking for remote-only companies to work for. For software developers, there are many advantages to working from home and still effectively working as a team to produce high quality results. But how can you be successful in a remote company? In this article, I will provide 7 tips on what it takes to be a successful developer in a remote company. Communication is key It is now more important than ever to communicate effectively with your team. Now that everyone is working from home instead of being in one physical office, you have to be very conscious to reach out to teammates and share your progress on a project. In a physical office, you are surrounded by other co-workers all day, which makes it easier to walk over to someone's office and share what you have been working on. It also makes it easier to have impromptu meetings with other team members throughout the day. But in a remote setting, it is very easy to become isolated and get carried away with work without reaching out to anyone all day. This becomes an issue for your team, because now they are no longer keeping up to date on the latest changes you have been contributing to the project. My tip would be to post periodic updates throughout the day of what you have been working on. If your company is using something like Slack or another chat server, make sure to post a detailed update on what you have been up to the past few hours. Here is an example of one of the status updates I would post to my team. Status update: - finished making changes to xyz case study and put it up for review - reviewed a couple of PRs - ran accessibility audits for the homepage and working on increasing the performance score I would usually post this in the middle of the day to update the team on what I have been working on. I also try to ask questions throughout the day to ensure that I don't get blocked on a particular issue for to long. This method of communication helps me stay connected with the team and helps my manager know where I am at in the project. Find a separate space in your home just for work When you are working in an office, there is a clear separation between work and home. This makes it easier to end your day and leave your work at the office. But with remote work, sometimes these lines between work and home become a little bit blurry. This is why it is important to designate a separate work space in your home. In my situation, I have a small desk in another room where I do all of my work. That space is only used Monday through Friday for work purposes. I have found that by creating a work space, it allows me to be in the moment and fully concentrate on my duties. Then at the end of the day, I logout out of everything and leave the work space just like I would leave a physical business. That has given me freedom to relax in my home when I am not working and fully recharge for the next day. I understand that everyone's living situation is different, and you might not have room for a designated work area. In those cases, do the best you can to carve out some space in your living situation just for work. The more you can do to separate home and business, the more productive you will be at work. Set consistent work hours When you are working in an office, you have set hours for when you are going to be there. It might be 9-5 or 8-3 with breaks throughout the day. But when you are working from home, it is very easy to work without a set schedule and put in more time outside of the standard work hours. This can quickly lead to burnout which is a huge issue within the developer community. It is really important to set a consistent work schedule so your team knows when you are available, and when you are off work. This also forces you to work within a time frame which will lead to better focus, time management and productivity. I have personally found that setting that time frame from 8-5 with breaks helps me structure my day better and get more done than if I had an open schedule. Take breaks throughout the day Developer health is another huge issue within the community. Many developers, including myself have gone for hours hunched over their computers trying to get something to work. In these situations, it is very easy to lose track of time and develop back, neck, shoulder, and eye problems. One of the key advantages of working from home is being able to take breaks and leave your work space. Take ten minute breaks throughout the day and make sure to walk around, stretch, go outside, and drink water. Taking breaks from the computer will give your body and brain a chance to rest and recharge. When I first started working remotely, I would be glued to the computer for hours at a time. But I quickly felt the negative health effects and started becoming more intentional about taking breaks. Now, I have developed a healthier work situation and can see the difference in the quality of work I am producing. Dress appropriately for important meetings We all enjoy the relaxed dress code that often accompanies working from home. In an office, you will typically be in a more work appropriate attire especially when it comes to meetings with clients. But when you are at home, it is very easy to work in some sweatpants and a t shirt. If you don't have any meetings that day, then coding in your casual attire is fine. But if you are meeting with clients or interviewing remotely, it is important to dress appropriately. Remember that it is still a business and you want to be as professional as possible, even in a remote setting. Avoid mixing personal tasks and work tasks When you are in an office, you don't worry about personal chores like doing laundry or taking the trash out. But when you are working from home, it is very easy to get distracted and mix personal tasks with work tasks. It is very important that while you are working, you are focused on work. Then during breaks, you can take care of personal items. In my situation, I make sure to finish up the task I was working on and then take a break to put a load of laundry on or take care of another personal chore. There are definitely times where something has come up and I will make sure to communicate that with the team so they know I will be unavailable for a certain amount of time. But just try to do the best that you can separating personal tasks and issues from your work tasks. Time management and structuring your day In order to work productively, it is important to plan out your day as best you can and structure your time accordingly. For example, as I am writing this blog today, I made sure to set aside time for writing the first draft, revising it and submitting it for review. During that time block, I am not focused on other PR's or other work responsibilities. That ensures I am focused 100% on writing a high quality article. Once I complete a large task, then I make sure to take a break, hydrate, walk around and eat something. That allows me to energize and gear up for the next task in my day. I found that breaking up my day into manageable tasks has provided me the opportunity to focus and produce good work. Conclusion Those are my 7 tips on what it takes to be a successful developer in a remote company. I encourage you to give each of those tips a try and see how it affects your work productivity....

May 16, 2022

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This is the Worst Thing a DevRel Team Could Do

At its core, a successful Developer Relations (DevRel) program focuses on forming strong connections within its target audience to ensure that developers can easily connect with the company or organization behind the product they’re using. Great teams in DevRel build genuine relationships, earn trust, and actively engage with developers. DevRel takes a different approach from traditional marketing strategies. Instead of just chasing numbers and leads for sales, it puts emphasis on making developers happy and retention. This creates a cycle of feedback between users and a company, helping to better understand their needs and fostering a sense of community among users. There have been organizations that consider DevRel a revenue-driving function, but this is where challenges arise, since DevRel teams cannot consistently show value in this area and meet the expectations of stakeholders expecting this based on where their focus and the profession lies. When DevRel professionals are forced to be revenue drivers, the breakdown between developers and that company is inevitable. Developers can smell hidden agendas from a mile away. They realize when their needs are being overlooked in favor of sales initiatives. *“Companies fail at DevRel when they try to turn them into sales teams. This hurts customer trust.” - Michael Liendo, Senior Developer Advocate at AWS. * Developers care about education, resources, opportunities, and the overall experience of a product or platform. When they are a target for sales pitches, they leave or shut down. Their focus is getting the job done, and they talk to companies to solve problems in their development lifecycle, not to be on the receiving end of a pitch. Furthermore, since all successful DevRel teams are focused on building authentic relationships with developers, strategic partnerships with other organizations will be hard to come by or have dismal retention numbers since no one wants to be associated with trying to sell to developers. Good DevRel teams are focused on helping developers and understand that being helpful goes a long way to help the sales cycle. Many DevRel efforts also focus on providing value to a community before asking for something in return. The trust and authenticity of brand building in this area and those initiatives - the loyalty a DevRel team is trying to generate - many times does not make direct corollary sense from a monetary perspective, and sales organizations often overlook the non-monetary value and impact these efforts generate and how they correlate to long-term growth for an organization. In DevRel, genuine connections matter more than immediate revenue. When teams prioritize developers' needs over sales, trust grows, fostering lasting relationships that drive long-term success. Treating DevRel as solely a sales function erodes trust and misses the true value of building authentic partnerships and community loyalty. Interested in learning more about launching your own DevRel program, feel free to reach out!...

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“Music and code have a lot in common,” freeCodeCamp’s Jessica Wilkins on what the tech community is doing right to onboard new software engineers

Before she was a software developer at freeCodeCamp, Jessica Wilkins was a classically trained clarinetist performing across the country. Her days were filled with rehearsals, concerts, and teaching, and she hadn’t considered a tech career until the world changed in 2020. > “When the pandemic hit, most of my gigs were canceled,” she says. “I suddenly had time on my hands and an idea for a site I wanted to build.” That site, a tribute to Black musicians in classical and jazz music, turned into much more than a personal project. It opened the door to a whole new career where her creative instincts and curiosity could thrive just as much as they had in music. Now at freeCodeCamp, Jessica maintains and develops the very JavaScript curriculum that has helped her and millions of developers around the world. We spoke with Jessica about her advice for JavaScript learners, why musicians make great developers, and how inclusive communities are helping more women thrive in tech. Jessica’s Top 3 JavaScript Skill Picks for 2025 If you ask Jessica what it takes to succeed as a JavaScript developer in 2025, she won’t point you straight to the newest library or trend. Instead, she lists three skills that sound simple, but take real time to build: > “Learning how to ask questions and research when you get stuck. Learning how to read error messages. And having a strong foundation in the fundamentals” She says those skills don’t come from shortcuts or shiny tools. They come from building. > “Start with small projects and keep building,” she says. “Books like You Don’t Know JS help you understand the theory, but experience comes from writing and shipping code. You learn a lot by doing.” And don’t forget the people around you. > “Meetups and conferences are amazing,” she adds. “You’ll pick up things faster, get feedback, and make friends who are learning alongside you.” Why So Many Musicians End Up in Tech A musical past like Jessica’s isn’t unheard of in the JavaScript industry. In fact, she’s noticed a surprising number of musicians making the leap into software. > “I think it’s because music and code have a lot in common,” she says. “They both require creativity, pattern recognition, problem-solving… and you can really get into flow when you’re deep in either one.” That crossover between artistry and logic feels like home to people who’ve lived in both worlds. What the Tech Community Is Getting Right Jessica has seen both the challenges and the wins when it comes to supporting women in tech. > “There’s still a lot of toxicity in some corners,” she says. “But the communities that are doing it right—like Women Who Code, Women in Tech, and Virtual Coffee—create safe, supportive spaces to grow and share experiences.” She believes those spaces aren’t just helpful, but they’re essential. > “Having a network makes a huge difference, especially early in your career.” What’s Next for Jessica Wilkins? With a catalog of published articles, open-source projects under her belt, and a growing audience of devs following her journey, Jessica is just getting started. She’s still writing. Still mentoring. Still building. And still proving that creativity doesn’t stop at the orchestra pit—it just finds a new stage. Follow Jessica Wilkins on X and Linkedin to keep up with her work in tech, her musical roots, and whatever she’s building next. Sticker illustration by Jacob Ashley....

Apr 25, 2025

3 mins

JavaScriptSoftware Engineering

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Building Apps with No Code? A Web Component Future

Tracy Lee

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