JavaScript frameworks help startup owners and developers build standardized applications quickly. But, which framework is suitable for your business?
JavaScript, together with HTML and CSS, build “industry-strength” websites and web applications. It redefines web application development. And the different Javascript framework fuels the success of most businesses.
With that, the question lies on how to choose a framework for your business. This is a tough call, especially for startup owners. You’ll need a framework that will serve your current requirements and in the future.
The simplest way to determine each framework’s features and technical parameters are to identify its category. Do you need a framework for frontend or backend development?
Then, assess it based on community support, design principles, and quality of documentation. Lastly, experience how these frameworks work by visiting known websites that utilize them.
Different Frameworks To Deal With Modern Web Development
The number of frameworks, old and new entrants, adds confusion on choosing the right framework for your web application. To help you out, here are insights from the recent StackOverflow’s developer survey 2020. Also, another best resource to help us out is the StateofJS 2019.
These resources mostly gather insights from software developers. However, we will use the result of these surveys as inputs for business decision-making. We will not deal with the developer’s statistics. Instead, we will evaluate some factors to establish the framework’s effect on the project’s durability.
Frontend JavaScript Frameworks
Here are the top three JavaScript frameworks for frontend development:
React.js
React.js is an open-source front end JavaScript library. Meaning, it is not a full-scale framework. Because of that, it requires excellent programming skills to integrate the UI library into a common MVC framework.
React is popular because of its affiliation with Facebook; Jordan and his team built it in 2011. In 2013, it open-sourced and continued to dominate the web industry.
According to this survey, React.js is favored by most startups, with a 62% approval rating. Also, from the same study, business owners use this framework to build consumer-focused applications.
React.js considerations:
- Design – developers are happy because it is easy to use and easy to learn, thereby reducing development time.
- Performance and usability – its continuous improvement is the key as it manages concurrency and fast rendering, which is the fundamentals of good performance.
- Documentation – due to its fast development, it is often criticized with its poor documentation on its new releases.
- Community support – it has extensive community support from known developers hub like Github.
Check out the websites of Airbnb, Twitter, Udemy, and Uber, to experience how React.js works.
Vue.js
Evan You launched Vue in 2014. Vue.js based its idea on React and Angular. It wanted to provide an easier learning experience for developers.
Not only that. Vue.js also adds advanced capabilities compared to Angular and React. For example, to provide an easy-to-use and secure framework, it combines two attributes Angular and React: two-way binding and Virtual DOM.
Vue.js considerations:
- Design – developers find it simple and easy to use.
- Performance and usability – it can build applications from scratch, and it provides seamless integration with other web components.
- Documentation – it has the best documentation among other JavaScript frameworks.
- Community support – it has a small number of contributors. Still, it manages to provide a fast and robust framework.
If you happen to be a fan of 9gag or a Louis Vuitton aficionado, then when you are experiencing Vue.js when visiting their websites.
AngularJS
Google developer AngularJS as a fully-featured MVC framework. If Vue was built out of inspiration from Angular and React, Angular was built out of inspiration from React. It aims to cater to dynamic client-side single-page applications.
Angular underwent a total rewrite to battle competition and later on emerged as one of the best frameworks to date. It has its “Angular material” as its edge. Meaning, it has a set of UI modules and components that are robust and ready to use.
Angular.js considerations:
- Design – developers look up to Angular because of its functionality, clear coding structure, and consistency.
- Performance and usability – it can build applications fast and increase productivity because of its code consistency.
- Documentation – it has a great documentation resource plus its huge libraries provide enormous support for the developers.
- Community support – just like React, Angular is backed with a tech giant, thus offering a massive community of developers and experts.
Backend JavaScript Frameworks
Here are the top three JavaScript frameworks for backend development:
Express.js
Founded in 2010 by TJ Holowaychuk, Express.js is one of the oldest active JavaScript frameworks. It works with Node.js as a default server framework for building APIs and web applications. Express.js is one of the top back-end frameworks for JavaScript coding because of its rapid server-side coding.
Developers working with Node.js projects get help from Express.js in dealing with complex tasks. Complex tasks using pure node.js consume time, but Express.js resolves these tasks within minutes.
Worth Mentioning: Node.js
Node.js is quite an interesting technology. It is oftentimes referred to as a framework when it is NOT. On the contrary, it is a runtime environment. It is not built using JavaScript but is written mainly using the C++ and C programming languages.
Node.js is easier to learn for those familiar with JavaScript. Both both back-end and front-end development using this technology.
Node.js can cater to simultaneous requests since it offers a non-blocking I/O system. It can handle concurrent requests better, which makes the application more efficient and have better performance.
To know more about Node.js, visit its official website.
Expres.js considerations:
- Design – an easy to learn the framework and offers simple execution especially when paired with Node.js.
- Performance and usability – it is the standard server framework for Node.js because of its robustness and its powerful developer tools.
- Documentation – as a mature framework, it offers well-written documentation with lots of tutorials and other resources.
- Community support – its stability results in massive community backing especially such as the Github community.
If you are using PayPal, visited the Accenture website, and learned new skills from Pluralsight, you are experiencing the magic of Express.js.
Next.js
Next.js is an end-to-end server-side rendering framework based on React. It is paired with React framework as a back-end for developing applications. It was launched in 2017 by Dutch company Vercel(previously known as ZEIT).
Next.js is a small JavaScript framework. It means its capabilities and coverage are limited. Its purpose is to provide a simple implementation experience for the development of React applications.
Next.js considerations:
- Design – developers love the server-side rendering features, but it is only built to work with React only.
- Performance and usability – its “hot-code reloading” feature boost performance as it automatically reloads web pages when it detects changes.
- Documentation – it has enough documentation to help business owners and developers.
- Community support – it has average community support.
When you watch your favorite movies or series via Netflix, you are experiencing the robustness of Next.js.
Gatsby.js
Kyle Mathews and Sam Bhagwat founded Gatsby.js in May 2015; It is a framework highly popularized because of its features. This includes GraphQl based Static Site Generator used to build high-performance and SEO-friendly static websites. This is vital for websites aiming to rank in Google.
Also, Gatsby has a wide array of features, including integration with web key services. It is easy to embed Email marketing tools or CMS, SEO, image optimization, google analytics, and many others.
Gatsby.js considerations:
- Design – developers use Gatsby because it offers robust and fast development.
- Performance and usability – it offers fast performance, SEO friendly, and ready-to-use plugins.
- Documentation – it has an average resource to help software developers and business owners.
- Community support -it has a community but relatively small compared to other known frameworks.
Visit websites like Upwork, Gitlab, and Fox News to experience the Gatsby.js framework live.
Our Guided Development Strategy can Help You!
To choose the best Javascript frameworks to use, you’ll need a good understanding of your website’s requirements. Then make an initial comparison using the attributes stated above. Remember, your decision is important to the overall success of your project.
At Full Scale, we have a pool of Javascript experts who can make your life easier. Our project managers can assess these top JavaScript Frameworks and match them with your business requirements. We can help you understand how each framework handles usability, performance, and many others.
We believe that our experience and current trend analysis will ease the dilemma with these client-side technologies. Have a FREE consultation today!
