Don’t Reinvent the Wheel Zach BoergerFebruary 2012

Leverage What Already Exists

What’s out there?

• APIs

• jQuery Libraries

• Frameworks

• Templates

AP-what?

• API = Application Programming Interface

• Give developers access to the feature set of an existing product

Top APIs

• Facebook + Twitter

• Google Maps

• Foursquare

• Twilio

Before you build a “cool” feature, Google

it

Open-source is your friend

So is Github

jQuery Scrollable

Other Examples

• Auto-save user input on your forms

• Create bar graphs on the fly (client-side)

• Anything else you can build!

Frameworks

Popular Ones

• Ruby on Rails

• Django + Python

• PHP + CodeIgniter

Reasoning

• Logical, consistent layout for projects

• Eliminates up-front “setup” time

• Take advantage of what’s already included

Templates & Boilerplates

Twitter Bootstrap

HTML5 + Mobile Boilerplate

Conclusion

• To quickly test an idea, leverage what’s already out there

• Go back and re-design later if needed

• Don’t waste time on stuff that’s already been done