John Dalton formulates his Atomic Theory that elementary particles combine to form different atoms and compounds.

Production begins on the first moving assembly line in Ford’s auto plant, breaking the process into components needed for each subsystem.

1913

“An Outline for General Systems Theory” sets the foundation for modern systems thinking, with complex system hierarchies comprised of component parts and subsystems.

1950

Modularity in hardware and software design comes to fruition as Maurice Wilkes’ Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator runs its first program.

1949

Compaq combines IBM-compatible modules to produce lower-priced computers. Dell goes a step further with build-to-order, modularized production.

1980s

Object-oriented development takes hold with a focus on modular architecture. The influential Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software provides 20+ JavaScript patterns for web app development.

1990s

“The Agile Manifesto” documents the principles of agile development in response to software quality issues and budget overruns. Projects are broken into smaller modules that are completed in short iteration cycles.

2001

Sitecore® 4.3 is released, delivering dynamically assembled pages and content. Data templates are constructed from atomistic items; complex content modules can be built, swapped and placed into layouts.

2004

Tim Berners-Lee, father of the Internet, names modularity the architectural standard for engineering. He cites the ability to reuse cleanly designed modules built for one system in other systems.

2008

Object-Oriented CSS offers a modular system for styling objects—nestable chunks of HTML—that comprise a section of a web page. Content is separated from structure by placing CSS styles in reusable blocks of code.

2008

NASA accelerates the Orion spacecraft project, a modular vehicle designed for flexibility.

2010

Trent Walton’s “Content Choreography” rethinks website architecture and content structure for a mobile world.

2011

Brad Frost announces Pattern Lab and presents Atomic Design, a well-known example of design-system thinking that adapts molecular concepts to the key components of web design.

2013

BrainJocks SCORE ™, a Sitecore implementation accelerator, is introduced. Its modular development framework enables Atomic Design for Sitecore. Complex websites are built from simple, portable components.

2014

MODULARITY MATTERSHow Atomic Design Evolved from Modular Thinking

1803