The workspace within which the setup and configuration of software tools, frameworks, and resources exists that enables the developers to create and test their eCommerce platform. It provides a controlled and optimized environment for the development process, facilitating efficient coding, collaboration, and deployment. Experro’s theme supports various development environments to accommodate different preferences and requirements of developers. These environments are designed to streamline the theme customization and extension process, ensuring smooth development workflows and high-quality outcomes.

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What are the Two Development Environments?

Experro Storefront offers two default environments to working with the base theme.
  1. Application (Default)
  2. Experro Visual Builder

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Type 1 - Application (Default)

Base theme running in application mode The base theme runs in application development environment by default. You need a configuration file to change the development environment from one to another. In the base theme folder, you will see a file .env.development.local that contains the below configuration. 
REACT_APP_BUILD_TARGET=app
REACT_APP_STORE_URL=http://localhost:8080/
REACT_APP_STORE_TOKEN=http://localhost:8080/
The REACT_APP_BUILD_TARGET environment variable can be set to either app or app-ui-builder.

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Type 2 - Experro Visual Builder

Change the value of REACT_APP_BUILD_TARGET from app to app-ui-builder and re-run the base theme. You should see the base theme with Draggable area on left side and Visual Builder Panel on right side to drag-and-drop the possible components. Base theme running in Experro Visual Builder mode with Draggable area on left and Visual Builder Panel on right The most important part of the base theme is the Components and Widgets. In the next section, let’s take a look at Components and Widgets.