Building a website from scratch was very difficult in the past. Firstly, web developers did not have a proper IDE (Integrated Development Environment) to work in. Secondly, there was little to no scope for making websites responsive. Manually, it was something impossible to do. Finally, websites back then were static. Building a dynamic website was something they could only think of in their wildest imaginations.
With time, however, things have changed. Developers now get to work in proper IDEs. These allow them to work on their HTML and CSS files simultaneously. At the same time, developers get a live preview of what the site looks like as they keep coding.
Using frameworks like Bootstrap made it easier for developers to make websites responsive. Lastly, modern websites are dynamic. Not only are they visually appealing, but they also handle their functionalities very well.
One of the most useful features of the modern-day website is its ability to have widgets. Widgets are available for almost all types of services these days. Integrating widgets on a website can make life easier for developers. That makes building a website a lot easier as well. So how is it that ready-to-deploy widgets manage to do so? Let us find out.
Reducing the Need to Write More Code
Since the widgets are ready for deployment at any given time, developers need not write additional code for them. Be it CMS or HTML/CSS-based, widgets are available for all types of websites. Whoever creates the widgets does it all for them. So in case you are fiddling with the Tomorrow.io widget, you can copy-paste the code they provide on their website.
Tomorrow.io is a super accurate weather app. It is one of the most reliable weather apps and can provide better weather prediction than most other weather apps. It took developers months to build something like Tomorrow.io. Just the weather forecasting capabilities probably took two or three months to integrate. Then comes the AI and ML integration.
Imagine doing all that by yourself. Coding it from scratch could take you years. That would especially be true if you were an amateur web developer. However, since Tomorrow.io provides a widget, you do not need to code anything. You can copy-paste the widget or API code from their website and use it on your site. That will help you save time and effort.
You will also get to use Tomorrow’s servers while using their widget. The same goes for any other widget or API that you plan on using. Your web server will not have to take the load for any of the widgets you have there, unless you made it yourself, or are hosting it on your server.
Integrating Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning with the Widgets
Building a widget is difficult in itself. So when you think about integrating AI or ML technologies into it, things are bound to get even more difficult. However, you need not do that either. As per their needs, developers these days use AI and ML to train their widgets. These widgets are therefore smart and carry out a diverse range of functionalities.
Being one of the world’s most reliable weather apps, Tomorrow.io’s weather widget is equipped with AI technologies. It uses AI and complex event processing to analyse the weather data it retrieves from the nearby weather radar. Afterwards, it provides users with the weather forecast for that area. Thanks to the use of AI, the forecasts are usually accurate.
Apart from that, the AI also helps the weather widget give out intelligent weather advice. For instance, it will advise users to take a raincoat or umbrella if there is a possibility of rain. Similarly, it will tell people to drive safely as the roads might be slippery after a downpour.
Improving Website Visuals
Modern web widgets have stunning visuals. Alongside a simple user interface, the widgets also come with interactive graphics and visuals. Such visuals are there to appeal to the visitors. They help improve the overall aesthetics of the websites.
And since most widgets are responsive, you can expect them to adjust to different screens accordingly. That helps keep the website’s look uniform no matter how you view it or from whatever device.
Widgets also give the website a more dynamic feel, especially those that are continuously updating. Take the Tomorrow.io widget as an example. The weather data changes once every hour or so. Hence, there is an update to the visuals, or at least the numbers on the screen. Such real-time updates keep the dynamic feeling of modern websites intact.
These are some of the most crucial ways widgets are helping to make web developers’ lives easier. Widgets help save time and effort. They also help save developers or hosts money on server space. Thus, it is safe to say that a modern website is unimaginable without at least one or two widgets.