We have recently released a set of Software Development Kits to assist developers in creating digital experiences using several JavaScript Single Page Application Frameworks and Crownpeak DXM.
Why?
The desire to make the Crownpeak DXM experience as frictionless as possible for the modern, front-end developer, is what drove us to release the SDKs. We want to continually encourage the use of native tooling, SDLC, source control, and build processes - something that any modern-day headless content management platform will let you do. However, we want to do more. We want to provide a world-class experience for not only the developer but also the marketing teams using the platform to curate content. We want to empower them to change the layout of content, not just the content itself (a limitation of most headless platforms) - manipulating components using both inline editing and drag and drop capabilities, all within the guidelines set by the developers. At the same time, we want to release the developers from the mundane, simple layout changes, to focus instead on adding new capabilities which the marketers need in their continual pursuit of the customer (this is what we call Headless 2.0 - see https://www.crownpeak.com/products/digital-experience-platform/web-content-management/headless-2 for more on this topic).
What do they do?
Designed to remove the complexity of working with Crownpeak DXM, the SDKs have two core functions:
- Firstly, they handle communication for both dynamic content (using DXM's Dynamic Content API) as well as static content (payloads published by DXM - i.e., JSON, XML, CSV files) - allowing developers to choose when it's appropriate to collect their content dynamically via the API, or statically from the file-system where there's no need for an API interaction; and
- Secondly, they iterate through your SPA from top-to-bottom, automatically creating all of the DXM configurations that are needed to support an immersive content authoring experience (i.e., inline editing, drag and drop, etc. - we call this "scaffolding"). What's more, as you continue to develop the platform, you can "scaffold" again-and-again to add to the existing configuration, without affecting the content itself.
DXM has always been able to support Headless 2.0. However, with the use of the SDKs, the majority of configuration work within DXM can be replaced by the "scaffolding" process, significantly reducing time-to-value.
How can I get started?
