atom project is an open source set of elements and builders, aimed at making web app development fast and simple. It can be used by designers, developers or people who want to DIY a web app. It is based on open standards which means that it will work with practically any framework, language or platform of choice.
By having elements and builders we implicitly suggest a workflow — one that we have found works well for us. However it is important to mention at the outset that we realise not everyones workflow may be similar and our architecture accommodates for this.
We wanted an easier way to create web applications that was fast and did not need specialised skills. We wanted the best app creation experience. We also wanted the approach to be standards compliant so that it evolves with the web, and be open source so that the community benefits and contributes to it.
atom has a set of elements which are web components built with polymer.
- There are elements for building simple forms, displaying structured data (like tables & lists), and creating typical web pages.
- There are elements with no UI which take care of some functional aspects (like sorting/ fetching/ sending data).
- There is a provision for you to easily add your own or modify an existing element to suit your needs.
atom also has a set of builders (or tools) that ease app creation.
- Form Builder
- Page Builder
- Data Source Builder/ API Calling Interface
Each atom element is a web component ready to use in a drag and drop builder. The elements are well documented in terms of their design considerations, developer documentation and availability of demos. Each element also comes with unit test cases, performance numbers, and capability to work well with analytics. They are carefully tested to work across browsers and devices (as per published spec.) and have user experience heuristics built into them.
Builders are tools used to speed up parts of web application development. They also make web app development possible for non developers by lowering the barrier to entry.
atom builders are tools focussed on providing the worlds best user experience for creating parts of web applications like forms, pages, connections with data. They empower people to easily work with complex or mundane activities without having to master aspects of programming or do repetitive work.
They streamline workflow and open up possibilities for automation of the creation process.