In this episode of Syntax, Wes Bos and Scott Tolinski interview Jeppe Reinhold, a software engineer on the Storybook team at Chromatic, about Storybook version 9 and its features. Jeppe explains that Storybook is a workshop for front-end components, emphasizing development, documentation, and testing in isolation. The discussion covers the transition to Vite, efforts to reduce bloat by replacing dependencies like Express with Polka, and improvements to the add-on API. They delve into testing components using Vitest, visual testing with Chromatic, and accessibility add-ons. Jeppe highlights the benefits of component testing for development speed and shares best practices for component design, including splitting components into presentational and smart components. He also mentions interesting add-ons like the interaction recorder and the SotoStates add-on. Jeppe plugs Chromatic as a visual testing tool and shares his sick pick, the JBL Boombox 3 Wi-Fi speaker.
