A new open-source project is making it easier for web developers to create applications by providing a step-by-step process as they develop. Microsoft announced the Microsoft Web Template Studio (WebTS), which is designed to be a cross-platform extension of Visual Studio Code.
The open-source project provides a wizard-based experience that guides developers through web app creation, generates code, and provide step-by-step instructions. According to the company, WebTS can generate code for front-end and back-end frameworks, pages and cloud services.
“Our philosophy is to help bootstrap your app with what you need but not do so much that you’re deleting code and breaking stuff. We also strive to introduce best patterns and practices,” Clint Rutkas, senior technical product manager for the Windows developer team, wrote in a blog post.
The project is still in early development and supports one full-stack app path with React and Node.js, Microsoft explained. Support for Angular and Vue are currently in the works.
Features include:
- Project type: The type of app you are building. The project currently only supports fullstack at the moment.
- Frameworks: Are you using front-end or back-end? Support includes React.js for frontend and Node.js for backend.
- App pages: App page templates to easily add common UI pages. Templates include: blank page, common layouts and pages with common patterns.
- Cloud services: Support includes Azure Cosmos DB and Azure Functions.
