Software development is a relatively young field. What is considered “beautiful code” one day can be an anti-pattern the next. What if there was a way to write software that is easier to maintain, quicker to write, and more reusable by taking some timeless inspiration from the more established, culinary world?

In this talk we’ll take a look at the cooking term “Mise en place” (dealing with planning and preparation that goes into a meal) and how we can apply this concept to shared component libraries or design systems in our front end applications. We will examine how this strategy can help everyone on the team utilize these same ingredients to build, discuss, and design ultimately better software. While the examples are React-based, the concepts apply to other paradigms as well.

Ryan is a developer based out of Ann Arbor who programs in many languages. He is the author of Griddle and other various open source projects.