Crafting a Component Library for Data Visualization
Table of Contents
Introduction
In my tenure at LoadSmart, a unique project emerged - a React component library tailored for data visualization. This initiative aimed to empower the company’s products, especially in the realm of small enterprises. Although the library’s lifecycle was brief due to a pivot in the company’s focus, the experience proved invaluable. The Architecture
The foundation of this library rested on the trifecta of React, Storybook, and Recharts. Published on the public NPM registry, its downloads still accumulate today.
Navigating Challenges
The pivotal challenge lay in aligning the library with the design specifications provided by the design team. This necessitated flexibility for integration across multiple products with distinct color schemes and data structures. In response, I leveraged Recharts as the cornerstone due to its versatility and customization potential.
Ultimately, the library provided a refined Recharts wrapper. This streamlined chart creation, often requiring a mere single line of code. Its adaptability shone through a theme object for customization, while embracing extensibility via the integration of custom components like tooltips.
Gaining Insights
This undertaking served as a remarkable learning opportunity. It fortified my grasp on Recharts, enriching my skill set with the creation of a developer-consumable React component library. The foremost lesson was in crafting components that effortlessly balanced high customizability with foundational styling.
Employing Storybook alongside Typescript was another first, which proved to be an enlightening journey. Moreover, I engineered the entire CI/CD pipeline, enabling seamless automatic publishing to NPM.
Reflections
While the library’s trajectory remains uncertain, its impact was substantial within its fleeting existence. I take immense pride in our achievements within a constrained timeline.
While the library is now open source and unmaintained, you can explore its source code on GitHub. The Storybook preview is accessible at https://loadsmart-data-insights-ui.netlify.app/ for the time being.