Javascript

Storybook 6.5 - Key Features to Note

Published Jul 5, 2022

Updated Feb 13, 2023

3 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This article was written over 18 months ago and may contain information that is out of date.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.

Storybook is an open-source tool for building UI components and pages in isolation. It allows you to work on one component at a time. You can develop entire UIs without needing to start up a complex dev stack, force certain data into your database, or navigate around your application.

Storybook 6.5 was recently released and it comes with exciting features highlighted in this article.

Support for the Latest Popular Javascript Libraries and Frameworks

Support for Angular and React Out of the Box

Storybook 6.5 supports React 18 and Angular 14 out of the box.

When you run your React project for the first time, it will auto-detect the React version and use the new root API if it detects it on React 18.

Check out #17215.

Figma Plugin

With Storybook 6.5, you can easily compare design specs and different implementations with the help of the Figma plugin’s Storybook Connect which embeds stories into the Figma workspace.

This plugin allows developers to interact with the Figma design using a link created by the Figma plugin between the stories and designs. Check out more here.

Interaction Testing

Storybook Interaction Testing allows developers to write tests for your application in the story file itself. The tests execute in the browser, and you can get a GUI to visualize and debug them. Under the hood, it is powered by Jest, Playwright, and a testing library, giving you the familiarity of testing the application.

Check out Integrated Test.

Webpack 5 Lazy Compilation

Lazy Compilation is a feature that only calls the content of a page when it is needed, and delays every other content until a route to the content is called.

Storybook 6.5 only compiles the core runtime, and builds stories as you visit them. This enables the developer to quickly spin-up stories, and rebuild larger Storybooks.

Learn more about Storybook Lazy Compilation

Other features

Storybook support for Vite Builder has been improved with instant rebuild of stories, and have officially been brought into Storybook's core.

There were also improvements to accessibility features for Storybook and UI design features for stories.

Wrap Up

Storybook 6.5 offers a number of features and out of the box support for both React and Angular, making this release among the most exciting for this open source UI tool:

Figma’s Storybook Connect embeds stories into the Figma workspace. Write tests for your application in the story file itself with Storybook Interaction Testing.

Webpack 5 Lazy Compilation calls the content of a page when it is needed, and delays every other content until a route to the content is called.

If you get a chance to try out Storybook yourself, please let us know by tweeting us at @ThisDotMedia!

This Dot is a consultancy dedicated to guiding companies through their modernization and digital transformation journeys. Specializing in replatforming, modernizing, and launching new initiatives, we stand out by taking true ownership of your engineering projects.

We love helping teams with projects that have missed their deadlines or helping keep your strategic digital initiatives on course. Check out our case studies and our clients that trust us with their engineering.

About the author(s)

Hassan Sani
@inidaname @inidaname

Exploring Angular Forms: A New Alternative with Signals

Exploring Angular Forms: A New Alternative with Signals In the world of Angular, forms are essential for user interaction, whether you're crafting a simple login page or a more complex user profile interface. Angular traditionally offers two primary approaches: template-driven forms and reactive forms. In my previous series on Angular Reactive Forms, I explored how to harness reactive forms' power to manage complex logic, create dynamic forms, and build custom form controls. A new tool for managing reactivity - signals - has been introduced in version 16 of Angular and has been the focus of Angular maintainers ever since, becoming stable with version 17. Signals allow you to handle state changes declaratively, offering an exciting alternative that combines the simplicity of template-driven forms with the robust reactivity of reactive forms. This article will examine how signals can add reactivity to both simple and complex forms in Angular. Recap: Angular Forms Approaches Before diving into the topic of enhancing template-driven forms with signals, let’s quickly recap Angular's traditional forms approaches: 1. Template-Driven Forms: Defined directly in the HTML template using directives like ngModel, these forms are easy to set up and are ideal for simple forms. However, they may not provide the fine-grained control required for more complex scenarios. Here's a minimal example of a template-driven form: ` ` 2. Reactive Forms: Managed programmatically in the component class using Angular's FormGroup, FormControl, and FormArray classes; reactive forms offer granular control over form state and validation. This approach is well-suited for complex forms, as my previous articles on Angular Reactive Forms discussed. And here's a minimal example of a reactive form: ` ` Introducing Signals as a New Way to Handle Form Reactivity With the release of Angular 16, signals have emerged as a new way to manage reactivity. Signals provide a declarative approach to state management, making your code more predictable and easier to understand. When applied to forms, signals can enhance the simplicity of template-driven forms while offering the reactivity and control typically associated with reactive forms. Let’s explore how signals can be used in both simple and complex form scenarios. Example 1: A Simple Template-Driven Form with Signals Consider a basic login form. Typically, this would be implemented using template-driven forms like this: ` ` This approach works well for simple forms, but by introducing signals, we can keep the simplicity while adding reactive capabilities: ` ` In this example, the form fields are defined as signals, allowing for reactive updates whenever the form state changes. The formValue signal provides a computed value that reflects the current state of the form. This approach offers a more declarative way to manage form state and reactivity, combining the simplicity of template-driven forms with the power of signals. You may be tempted to define the form directly as an object inside a signal. While such an approach may seem more concise, typing into the individual fields does not dispatch reactivity updates, which is usually a deal breaker. Here’s an example StackBlitz with a component suffering from such an issue: Therefore, if you'd like to react to changes in the form fields, it's better to define each field as a separate signal. By defining each form field as a separate signal, you ensure that changes to individual fields trigger reactivity updates correctly. Example 2: A Complex Form with Signals You may see little benefit in using signals for simple forms like the login form above, but they truly shine when handling more complex forms. Let's explore a more intricate scenario - a user profile form that includes fields like firstName, lastName, email, phoneNumbers, and address. The phoneNumbers field is dynamic, allowing users to add or remove phone numbers as needed. Here's how this form might be defined using signals: ` > Notice that the phoneNumbers field is defined as a signal of an array of signals. This structure allows us to track changes to individual phone numbers and update the form state reactively. The addPhoneNumber and removePhoneNumber methods update the phoneNumbers signal array, triggering reactivity updates in the form. ` > In the template, we use the phoneNumbers signal array to dynamically render the phone number input fields. The addPhoneNumber and removePhoneNumber methods allow users to reactively add or remove phone numbers, updating the form state. Notice the usage of the track function, which is necessary to ensure that the ngFor directive tracks changes to the phoneNumbers array correctly. Here's a StackBlitz demo of the complex form example for you to play around with: Validating Forms with Signals Validation is critical to any form, ensuring that user input meets the required criteria before submission. With signals, validation can be handled in a reactive and declarative manner. In the complex form example above, we've implemented a computed signal called formValid, which checks whether all fields meet specific validation criteria. The validation logic can easily be customized to accommodate different rules, such as checking for valid email formats or ensuring that all required fields are filled out. Using signals for validation allows you to create more maintainable and testable code, as the validation rules are clearly defined and react automatically to changes in form fields. It can even be abstracted into a separate utility to make it reusable across different forms. In the complex form example, the formValid signal ensures that all required fields are filled and validates the email and phone numbers format. This approach to validation is a bit simple and needs to be better connected to the actual form fields. While it will work for many use cases, in some cases, you might want to wait until explicit "signal forms" support is added to Angular. Tim Deschryver started implementing some abstractions around signal forms, including validation and wrote an article about it. Let's see if something like this will be added to Angular in the future. Why Use Signals in Angular Forms? The adoption of signals in Angular provides a powerful new way to manage form state and reactivity. Signals offer a flexible, declarative approach that can simplify complex form handling by combining the strengths of template-driven forms and reactive forms. Here are some key benefits of using signals in Angular forms: 1. Declarative State Management: Signals allow you to define form fields and computed values declaratively, making your code more predictable and easier to understand. 2. Reactivity: Signals provide reactive updates to form fields, ensuring that changes to the form state trigger reactivity updates automatically. 3. Granular Control: Signals allow you to define form fields at a granular level, enabling fine-grained control over form state and validation. 4. Dynamic Forms: Signals can be used to create dynamic forms with fields that can be added or removed dynamically, providing a flexible way to handle complex form scenarios. 5. Simplicity: Signals can offer a simpler, more concise way to manage form states than traditional reactive forms, making building and maintaining complex forms easier. Conclusion In my previous articles, we explored the powerful features of Angular reactive forms, from dynamic form construction to custom form controls. With the introduction of signals, Angular developers have a new tool that merges the simplicity of template-driven forms with the reactivity of reactive forms. While many use cases warrant Reactive Forms, signals provide a fresh, powerful alternative for managing form state in Angular applications requiring a more straightforward, declarative approach. As Angular continues to evolve, experimenting with these new features will help you build more maintainable, performant applications. Happy coding!...

Oct 4, 2024

5 mins

AngularJavaScript

Learning Paths for Next.JS Developers with Ankita Kulkarni

In this video, Rob Ocel and co-hosts Tracy Lee, Adam Rackis, and Danny Thompson talk with tech educator Ankita Kulkarni about her journey from engineering leader to full-time educator. Ankita shares insights on teaching Next.js, bridging practical knowledge gaps, and helping developers tackle real-world challenges. They discuss Next.js as a React-based framework, its benefits, and the challenges it presents for beginners. Chapters - Introduction to the Podcast and Guests 00:01 - Meet Ankita Kulkarni, Tech Educator 00:26 - Ankita's Transition to Full-Time Education 01:41 - Teaching Practical Knowledge in Next.js 03:19 - Effective Methods for Teaching Next.js 05:27 - Challenges of Being a Full-Time Educator 07:48 - Balancing Broad and Specific Examples 09:54 - Embracing Mistakes as a Teaching Tool 12:13 - Pair Programming and Mentorship 14:00 - Discussion on Next.js and Framework Adoption 16:48 - Advantages and Challenges of Next.js 18:12 - Choosing the Right Framework for Your Needs 20:35 - Impact of Next.js in React Documentation 22:26 - Learning Paths for New Developers 23:24 - The Rise of Full-Stack Web Development 25:09 - Benefits of Frameworks Abstracting Complexity 26:27 - OpenNext and Deployment Flexibility 28:06 - Ankita's Excitement for New Next.js Features 30:35 - The Future of Next.js Without Vercel 32:16 - Final Thoughts and Where to Find Everyone Online 34:21 Follow Ankita Kulkarni on Social Media Twitter: https://x.com/kulkarniankita9 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kulkarniankita Sponsored by This Dot: thisdot.co...

Nov 12, 2024

2 mins

NextJSJavaScript

State of Deno: A Look at the Deno CLI, Node.js Compatibility and the Fresh Framework

In this State of Deno event, our panelists discussed the Deno CLI, Node.js compatibility for the npm ecosystem, and the Fresh framework. In this wrap-up, we will take a deeper look into these latest developments and explore what is on the horizon for Deno. You can watch the full State of Deno event on the This Dot Media YouTube Channel. Here is a complete list of the host and panelists that participated in this online event. Hosts: Tracy Lee, CEO, This Dot Labs, @ladyleet Panelists: Colin Ihrig, Software Engineer at Deno, @cjihrig Luca Casonato, Software Engineer at Deno, @lcasdev Bartek Iwańczuk, Software Engineer at Deno, @biwanczuk David Sherret, Software Engineer at Deno, @DavidSherret Table of Contents - Exploring the Deno CLI and its features - What is Deno? - Built in support for TypeScript - Built in toolchain - Deno install and upgrade commands - Deno permissions - Upcoming features - Deno products - Deno Deploy - Deno and Node.js compatibility - Future support for npm packages - The Deno to Node Transform library tool - Fresh framework - Conclusion - We look forward to seeing you at our next State of Deno! Exploring the Deno CLI and Its Features What is Deno? Deno is server-side runtime for JavaScript that also behaves similarly to a browser because it supports all of the same browser APIs on the server. This support provides access to existing knowledge, resources, and documentation for these browser APIs. The team at Deno works closely with browser vendors to make sure that new web APIs work well for both server-side runtime and browsers. Built In Support for TypeScript One of the advantages of Deno is that it ships with TypeScript by default. This removes the setup and configuration time, and reduces the barrier of entry for getting started with TypeScript. Deno also type checks your TypeScript code so you no longer have to use tsc. Built in Toolchain The Deno CLI comes with an entire toolchain which includes a formatter, Linter, package manager, vendor remote dependencies, editor integrations, and more. One of those tools is the Documentation Generator, which annotates library function comments, types, or interfaces with JSDocs comments to easily generate documentation. For a complete list of the Deno CLI tools, please visit their documentation page. Deno install and upgrade commands Deno install is another feature that allows you to take a script and install it using a global command. ` If there is a new version of Deno, you can just run the upgrade command and it will upgrade itself, which makes it a version manager for itself. ` Deno permissions Deno by default will not have file, network or environment access unless you grant those permissions by running a script with command line flags. ` Even with permissions granted, you can scope it to certain directories to allow it to only read and write in the directory of your choosing. If you run the program without permissions granted, the program will still prompt you for permission access before accessing a file. To learn more about Deno's permissions, please read through the documentation. Upcoming features Deno is currently working on improving performance in the areas of HTTP, FFI (Foreign Function Interface) and Node compatibility. There are also improvements being made on the Documentation Generator, to make sure that the docs provided are good and removing the need to maintain two separate docs. Deno Products Deno Deploy Deno deploy is a hosted offering that makes it easy to go from local development to production ready. This service integrates well with GitHub, and provides an option to pay only when users make requests to your services. Deno deploy has a dashboard that allows you to automate most of the processes and show you metrics, deployment statistics, CPU utilization, and network utilization. It also allows you to set up custom domains and provision certificates. Deno and Node.js compatibility Deno v1.15 will introduce a Node.js compatibility mode which will make it possible to run some of Node's programs in Deno. Node APIs like the http server will work in Deno as they would in Node.js. When it comes to the NPM ecosystem compatibility, the goal is to support the large number of packages built on Node.js. The Deno team is working on these compatibility issues, because it uses web APIs for most of their operations. All of these Web APIs were created after Node.js was conceived, meaning that Node implements a whole different set of APIs to do certain operations like performing network requests. This new Node.js API compatibility layer will be able to translate API calls to modern underlying APIs which is what the actual runtime implements. Future support for npm packages When it comes to supporting npm packages on Deno, the goal is to have a transpiler server that takes common.js code and translates that into ESM (ECMAScript module) code. The reason for this is because, just like browsers, Deno only supports ESM code. Deno uses the concept of npm specifiers to provide access to the npm package. Deno downloads the npm package and runs it from a global cache. common.js is also supported ,and it runs the code as it is. ` For npm packages, Deno will create a single copy of the downloaded package instead of multiple directories or sub-directories of modules. It is one global hash file, with no node_modules directory by default, and no need for a package.json by default. If a package requires a node_modules directory, then that directory can be created using a specifier flag. The following command will create a node_modules directory in the project directory, using symlink. ` The Deno to Node Transform library tool The Deno team built a tool to allow library authors to transform Deno packages to Node.js packages. Deno to Node Transform (DNT) takes the Deno code then builds it for Node and distributes it as an npm package. This allows library authors to take advantage of the Deno tool chain. This package can also be shipped on npm for Node.js users. Fresh framework Fresh is a new web framework for Deno, that makes use of the Deno toolchain ecosystem. Fresh uses JSX for templating, and it is similar to Next.js or Remix. A key difference between Fresh and Next.js or Remix, is that Fresh is built to be server-side rendered on the edge rather than server-side in a few locations. Another difference is that with Fresh, no JavaScript is shipped to the client by default, which makes it faster. Fresh handles the Server-side rendering, generates the HTML, sends the file to the client, and hydrates only the part of the page that requires JavaScript on the client by default. Here are some products that already use the Fresh framework: - Deno - merch.deno.com - Deno Deploy To learn more about how to build apps with the Fresh framework, please read through this helpful blog post. Conclusion The team at Deno is making great progress to bring more exciting features to the community to make the runtime engine easy to use for building or migrating existing libraries. If you have any questions about the State of Deno, be sure to ask here. What is it you find exciting about Deno? We will be happy to hear about it on Twitter! We look forward to seeing you at our next State of Deno!...

Dec 14, 2022

6 mins

DenoNodeJS

AI Leadership: Data-Driven Decision Making & Avoiding "Analysis Paralysis" with Jerry Reghunadh

In this episode of Leadership Exchange, host Rob Ocel chats with Jerry Reghunadh, Senior Director of Enterprise Architecture at Data Nimbus, about leadership, AI adoption, and data-driven decision-making. Jerry shares his career journey, insights on leveraging tools like ChatGPT and Copilot, and strategies for building effective data pipelines. They explore how companies can avoid "analysis paralysis," adopt AI strategically, and evaluate new technologies to solve real-world problems. Tune in for practical advice on aligning innovation with business goals and staying competitive in a rapidly evolving tech landscape. Chapters 00:00 – Introduction 00:31 – Jerry’s Leadership Journey 02:01 – Discussing AI in Leadership 03:59 – Experimenting with AI Tools 06:24 – Overcoming Analysis Paralysis 09:18 – Importance of Early AI Adoption 13:12 – AI’s Impact on Efficiency 14:30 – Sponsor Message 16:26 – Setting Realistic Goals for AI 19:41 – Data Management and AI 23:09 – Is AI Just a Fad? 27:22 – Testing New Technologies 29:56 – Final Thoughts on AI 30:25 – Connect with Jerry 30:44 – Closing Remarks 31:20 – Outro Follow Jerry on Social Media Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerrymannel/ Sponsored by This Dot: thisdot.co...

Nov 18, 2024

1 min

AIEngineering Leadership

Let's innovate together!

We're ready to be your trusted technical partners in your digital innovation journey.

Whether it's modernization or custom software solutions, our team of experts can guide you through best practices and how to build scalable, performant software that lasts.

Storybook 6.5 - Key Features to Note

Support for the Latest Popular Javascript Libraries and Frameworks

Hassan Sani

You might also like

Exploring Angular Forms: A New Alternative with Signals

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State of Deno: A Look at the Deno CLI, Node.js Compatibility and the Fresh Framework

AI Leadership: Data-Driven Decision Making & Avoiding "Analysis Paralysis" with Jerry Reghunadh

Let's innovate together!

You might also like

Exploring Angular Forms: A New Alternative with Signals

Learning Paths for Next.JS Developers with Ankita Kulkarni

State of Deno: A Look at the Deno CLI, Node.js Compatibility and the Fresh Framework

AI Leadership: Data-Driven Decision Making & Avoiding "Analysis Paralysis" with Jerry Reghunadh