A UI overhaul of SASTI
SASTI is a decades old web-based analytics app that reports on tertiary education performance in South Africa.
Over 5 months, I first started by building a component/pattern library (for the Python developers) based on some previous design work.
I then set about replacing the current UI (in DTL) with Jinja2, removing a lot of burdensome JavaScript, and implemented Web Platform tech such as Web Components.
I had to learn more Python (and Django) on the job. While I miss Rails' "Convention over Configuration", I enjoyed the openness, community help, and helpful documentation of Django.
Responsibilities
- Switched to Jinja2 for templating
- Built and maintained a pattern library, based on previous design work
- Implemented a number of Web Components that made the back-end developer's life a lot easier
- Refactor Views and View architecture
Team-mates
- Graeme Mehl (Development lead)
Observations and insights
- Django is a delight to work with
- Web Components can help ease a lot of the front-end load for other developers; it's much easier to write HTML than learn a new JavaScript package API.
- I wish there was a designer on this project, but we managed to get by.
- Working with Web Platform tech meant we didn't need to incorporate Node (and its heavy dependencies) in the Python environment