Flickity v1.0.0 is out and ready for prime-time.

Check out the gif.

How much does a widget cost?

Now that it's been properly launched, it's worth considering what it cost to put it all together. In the development of Flickity, I have produced:

• Behavioral prototypes
• Robust API for wide-scale use
• Unit tests
• Several dependency libraries, like tap-listener and fizzy-ui-utils
• Add-on libraries like flickity-imagesloaded and flickity-as-nav-for
• A complete documentation mini-site
• Multiple development blog posts
• Unit demos for every feature
• Support, addressing open source issues

Flickity's total development time, from initial demos to v1.0.0 release, has taken about 3 months. Creating Isotope and Packery took about 3 months as well, although I wasn't working on them full-time. Estimating that a front-end developer's yearly salary is $100,000 (which is on the low end for NYC or San Francisco), 3 months would cost $25,000.

A widget costs 25 grand. That's to say, a full-featured widget with all the bells and whistles like Flickity costs 25 grand.

This may sound extravagant. But consider that if for each of Flickity's thousand GitHub stars, it saves one person one hour of work, that would be 1,000 hours. If the average hourly rate for each person is $50:

1,000 hrs × $50/hr = $50,000 total value

I could argue that work put into Flickity costs half of what it's worth. When you consider the aggregate benefits that they can provide, the value of widgets is tremendous.

Previously

If you're just joining us, I'm making a new gallery library! The story thus far...

• Initial demos
• Math time: Resting position
• Particle to slider
• Flickity begins
• Making SVG buttons
• The best time
• Setting JavaScript functionality with CSS
• Front-end testing with QUnit
• Flickity beta testing
• Lots of files, but only one in my head
• Making features independent with internal events
• Taps are faster than clicks
• What makes for good docs?

Flickity v1 is out. Give 'er a flick!