What is a JavaScript framework?

A JavaScript framework helps render stuff: it is a rendering system. Rendering, in this case, means displaying something on a web page—the most common thing in web development.

 

A precise definition would be something like this: A collection of JavaScript code libraries that provide developers with pre-written code for routine programming tasks. Frameworks are structures with particular contests and help you make web applications within that contest.

 

In the beginning, there were no frameworks, so developers had to manage using plain JavaScript. When using a framework, the code gets much easier to read and write, with notable changes in its structure. Frameworks then let you write code easier and convert it to plain JS on the page.

 

A framework is essentially just a bunch of JS code that someone else wrote, no different than any code that a web developer can write. Devs just put the framework code at the top of a website to make it work. After inserting the framework at the beginning, it is as easy as coding with the given structure of the framework.

 

The instructions to understand the framework are explained on their website and can be hard to understand at first. So we are talking about an upfront investment in time and learning to make a much simpler and efficient coder experience in the long run.

3 main features of a framework

As we said, JavaScript is all about displaying things on a web page: rendering. That is necessary for websites with dynamic content as comments or those constantly uploading and updating posts.

 

There are three main features that every framework shares, all of which are supported by an MVC architecture. These features are:

 

• Rendering: how content is displayed through templates
• Data handling: the path to managing data and updates in a given framework
• Event handling: an easy way to add event handlers

 

On the other hand, MVC architecture stands for "model view controller". Most JavaScript frameworks are based on these features and architecture, so once a dev learns one, it gets much easier to switch between frameworks giving flexibility to web development.

 

If you want to see the same app built 10 times with different JS frameworks, check out the Fireship video about it, which is only a taste of the flexibility and tradeoffs that each framework offers.

Top JavaScript frameworks for 2022

Tiff in Tech anticipated the top JavaScript Frameworks for 2022 way before it was cool. We will tap into her dev knowledge to list the top javascript frameworks for 2022.

 

Frontend frameworks:

 

• React
• Angular
• Vue

 

Backend frameworks:

 

• Express
• Next.JS

 

Frameworks are created in generations. Many developers recommend learning the latest generation as everyone wants to be up to date with the latest technologies. Programmed obsolescence or necessary innovation? You tell me. To see its transformation over the years, there is a timeline with the most popular JavaScript frameworks from 2012 to 2019.

 

Frameworks tend to be most used according to the region (yeah, we are talking geography). So you may see differences according to the west or east coast of the US, or variations if you are a remote developer from another country.

How to choose a JS framework

John Papa has an excellent talk about choosing your JavaScript Framework. He takes a different approach: it targets what works for an individual developer.

 

Like many others, he mentions the holy trinity of React, Angular, and Vue, saying that you can not go wrong with one of those.

 

What does he take into account when choosing?

 

• Scale
• Features
• Support
• Longevity
• Performance
• Popularity
• Active Community
• Documentation

 

But there is a question that still remains. Which one feels best?

 

To answer this question, John has an answer that you might not like: try them all. Vue, React, and Angular. Try the three of them and be okay with all of them being good, even awesome. Try them and listen to yourself: which one feels best? There you will have your answer.

 

Maybe it is not even one of them: there are plenty of other frameworks. A skilled dev can even build one themselves. This choice is deeply personal, as most things can be done with most frameworks. Knowing this, a wide range of options appear on the horizon, all valid paths to take.

Keeping up with the Frameworks

Keeping up with new frameworks can be a daunting task; I can’t even keep up with the Kardashians. Even after mentioning five different frameworks, we are not even scratching the surface. Like most times with comedy, you get to a true statement:

 

 

All jokes aside, frameworks proliferate faster than a human can learn every one of them, so if you are a web developer or managing a web project, it is always good to be up to date, but sometimes you have to learn to stick to your guns. The perfect middle ground, as Aristotle said.

 

Besides the frameworks we mentioned, there are many others:

 

• Ember
• Meteor
• Mithril
• Node
• Polymer
• Aurelia
• Backbone
• Svelt
• Bootstrap
• Remix
• Gatsby

 

If you are interested in Gatsby, we have a dedicated article to its use in frontend design, as it is one of our favorite tools. With Gatsby v3.0 released in 2021, our projects got faster and smarter with a single update (can a project be smart? I think we are overdoing it with “smart” stuff).

 

In any case, at Awkbit, we value flexibility and efficiency: two attributes that often go hand in hand in software development, especially web development. Technology grows more complex by the nanosecond, and keeping up to date with the latest tools can be stressful. That is why we stand as a factory of helpers.

 

Are you in need of a development partner? Do you need to take some weight out of your backlog?