title: Should a backend api store layout information?
body: <p>I need to create a system to store and serve information about survey questions. Given a variety of questions, field types and field arrangments, I need to serve the data needed by the front end to display the fields.</p>
  
  <p>One of my big concerns is layout information. I'm not sure all the ways the fields can be arranged. At a minimum, I need to support things like two text fields appearing on 1 line, with a third on the next line. Or 6 multiple choice answers arranged in 2 columns of 3 rows.</p>
  
  <p>Is it appropriate to store this layout information in my database, and to serve it with the question/field data? I think these are my 3 options. Any thoughts on these options would be very helpful, or suggestions for other things to consider:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>I could store indicators that the question uses a column layout, and give each field hints as to what row/column it is in. </li>
  <li>I could store something like CSS or mustache templates to define the layout.</li>
  <li>I could leave this entirely to the front end. I could return the survey data and expect the front end to handle any layout concerns</li>
  </ul>