Chapter 6. Conclusion: Building for Change

The tools, standards, and practices around web development are constantly changing and getting better. You’re probably reading this report because you’re looking to rebuild some large aspect of your application, and it’s unlikely that this will be the last time at least part of the application will be rebuilt. Given that bigger refactors and rewrites are a common part of development, it is important that the application is structured in a way that is easy to change. So if you do a rewrite, do it while continuously shipping features and build modularly.

Atomic design applied as a development principle is powerful, as it allows for a very granular level of modularity that helps keep your application flexible and easy to adapt in the future. This flexibility helps your team to stay abreast of new technology.

The ability to build modular, simple user interfaces like Lego blocks allows you to build faster, to a higher quality standard, and in more predicable time frames. Re-using simple components has fewer unknowns than creating complex ones from scratch. As your library of reusable parts grows and complexity remains bounded to specific parts, your team can even speed up over time instead of slowing down.

We hope that the strategies and knowledge you’ve gained from this guide will provide you with a clearer idea of the benefits of this approach for your teams, and a practical understanding of how to successfully migrate your application for a more sustainable, productive future.