Frontend Mechanics
Top 5 JavaScript Frameworks and Why We Need Them
5th one intrigued me!!!
All of us are aware of the importance of speedy app development in the modern world. Because of this, I decided to compile a list of useful JavaScript frameworks to assist you in making this happen. We need more people working on improving the world and solving the mysteries of the cosmos, regardless of how far we get with artificial intelligence and machine learning. We can always get better, as long as AI keeps becoming better. As a group, we may improve our knowledge and abilities, and as individuals, we’ll have more time for loved ones. For this article, I have compiled a list of the top 10 JavaScript frameworks for creating SPAs and other online apps.
1. React
To construct user interfaces, developers can use the React JavaScript library. Facebook created it, and they, along with a group of independent programmers and business owners, are responsible for keeping it updated and secure.
With React, programmers can construct modular UI elements that may be combined in a variety of ways to form sophisticated user experiences. In comparison to more conventional methods of directly manipulating the DOM, this one is more efficient because it uses a virtual DOM (Document Object Model) that optimises modifications to the real DOM.
Components, another key idea in React, are independent modules that handle their own state and UI rendering. These pieces are versatile enough to be employed in a variety of different applications and even across different projects.
Given the size and vitality of the React community, there are a wealth of resources at your disposal, including tutorials, documentation, and a wide variety of third-party libraries and tools.
With the React Native toolkit, developers can construct native mobile apps from the same codebase as their online project, making React a popular choice for designing mobile apps.
Many popular services, including Airbnb, Uber, Asana, and many more, use React because of its popularity among web developers. As an example of a basic React component, we may have a look at this code, which generates a header containing the text Hello, World!
import React from 'react';
class HelloWorld extends React.Component {
render() {
return <h1>Hello, World!</h1>;
}
}
export default HelloWorld;The HelloWorld component is a custom class that extends React.Component in our example. All React components must call the render method, which returns the JSX to be rendered to the DOM. Using React’s render method, you can add this component to your project and display its contents in the DOM.
import React from 'react';
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
import HelloWorld from './HelloWorld';
ReactDOM.render(<HelloWorld />, document.getElementById('root'));If you did this, the HelloWorld /> component would be inserted into your HTML file as the root element, which is identified by the id root.
The biggest benefit of using React is that it allows you to easily create modular user interface components. This allows developers to create complex user interfaces by composing small, self-contained pieces of code. This facilitates code maintenance and makes the codebase more accessible for reasoning.
React’s virtual DOM provides an additional benefit. The virtual Document Object Model (DOM) is a simplified version of the real DOM that speeds up the process of UI refactoring. First, React updates the virtual DOM to reflect the new state, and then it determines which, if any, modifications need to be applied to the physical DOM. As a result, the process is quicker than using direct DOM manipulation.
2. Angular
Angular is an all-inclusive framework for creating web applications in JavaScript. Google created it, and the company and a group of independent programmers continue to support it.
Like React, Angular has a component-based architecture that separates the user interface into modular, reusable pieces. Independent state and view rendering is handled by each component. Angular makes advantage of a two-way data binding architecture, where modifications to either the component’s state or the view result in an immediate refresh of the other.
Angular’s built-in directives and services, including dependency injection, make it simple to structure and manage your application’s code. Furthermore, Angular’s robust routing architecture simplifies client-side navigation.
Because of Angular’s widespread popularity, a wealth of tutorials, official documentation, and third-party libraries and tools are readily available. Many major tech organisations, including Google, IBM, Microsoft, and many more, employ the Angular framework.
One key distinction between React and Angular is that the former is a JavaScript library for UI development while the latter is a comprehensive framework for creating web apps. This means that while both Angular and React give a set of tools for developing the UI, Angular provides a more comprehensive collection of tools for developing the entire application.
In terms of code, Angular employs typescript, a typed variant of javascript, and a unique syntax called Template syntax for defining the component’s template. Angular provides a full and potent toolkit for developing advanced web apps that are both scalable and easy to maintain.
The following is an example of a basic Angular component that displays a header with the text Hello, World!
import { Component } from '@angular/core';
@Component({
selector: 'app-hello-world',
template: '<h1>Hello, World!</h1>'
})
export class HelloWorldComponent { }In this case, the @Component decorator is applied to a class definition of HelloWorldComponent. Metadata about the component, such as the selector used to match template elements and the template used to define the component’s view, can be provided via the @Component decorator.
This module must be imported and then added to the declarations array of a @NgModule decorator before it can be used in your application.
import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { NgModule } from '@angular/core';
import { AppComponent } from './app.component';
import { HelloWorldComponent } from './hello-world.component';
@NgModule({
declarations: [AppComponent, HelloWorldComponent],
imports: [BrowserModule],
providers: [],
bootstrap: [AppComponent]
})
export class AppModule { }This would make the component available to be used in the template of the AppComponent
<app-hello-world></app-hello-world>3. Vue.js
Vue.js is a modern UI framework written in JavaScript. Evan You made it, and now a group of independent programmers and businesses are responsible for keeping it updated.
Vue.js, like React and Angular, employs a component-based architecture that separates the user interface into modular, reusable pieces. The state and the view of each component are handled independently. Vue.js makes use of a two-way data binding system, which means that any changes to either the component’s state or the view will result in corresponding updates to the other.
With Vue.js, you get a robust set of tools for managing the component’s lifecycle, including the Vue reactivity system, which monitors for changes in the component’s state and subsequently refreshes the view in response.
Because of its robust routing system, Vue.js makes client-side navigation a breeze.
Due to the size and vitality of the Vue.js community, a wealth of resources — including tutorials, documentation, and a plethora of third-party libraries and tools — are at your disposal.
Vue.js offers a more opinionated set of conventions for structuring the application, but it also offers more flexibility in terms of the tools that you can use to build the application, such as a template, JSX, or even JS without a template, which is one of the main differences between Vue.js and React.
Take a look at this demo of a basic Vue.js component that generates a header reading Hello, World!
<template>
<h1>Hello, World!</h1>
</template>
<script>
export default {
name: 'HelloWorld',
}
</script>This component can be used in your app by importing it and adding it to your Vue instance’s components array.
import Vue from 'vue'
import HelloWorld from './HelloWorld.vue'
new Vue({
el: '#app',
components: {
HelloWorld
},
template: '<HelloWorld />'
})To compare Vue.js with other popular frameworks like Angular and React, consider the following:
- Vue.js is smaller and less complex than Angular, and its learning curve is flatter than that of either Angular or React. This facilitates initial exploration and fundamental comprehension of the structure.
- Conventions with an opinion: Vue.js provides a more opinionated set of conventions for structuring the application, whereas React and Angular are more flexible. Vue’s conventions make it simple to organise and manage the code, and it gives you more options when it comes to the tools you can use to build the application, such as a template, JSX, or even JS without a template.
- Unlike React and Angular, which require explicit state updates, Vue.js’s built-in reactivity system makes it simple to monitor changes in the component’s state and automatically update the view.
4. Backbone.js
Developed in JavaScript, Backbone.js is a lightweight framework for creating dynamic, feature-rich, and scalable single-page web applications. Initiated by Jeremy Ashkenas, it is now supported by a group of independent programmers and businesses.
Backbone.js offers a bare-bones set of features, such as a framework for code organisation, a lightweight event-driven architecture, and DOM utility functions. Backbone’s primary focus is on providing a framework within which the code can be organised; unlike Angular and Vue, it does not provide a template system or a virtual DOM.
Models, Views, and Collections are the three main components of Backbone, and they are used to model the app’s data and user interface. Models stand in for the data and its logic, Views for the UI and its logic, and Collections for a group of Models.
Backbone also includes an easy-to-use routing system for managing client-side navigation, which enables you to define URL routes that are bound to particular app actions.
Backbone’s small footprint and easy-to-learn syntax make it a good choice for building a minimum viable product (MVP) or a prototype, but it may be too minimalistic for larger projects.
Compared to other popular frameworks like React or Angular, Backbone.js has a smaller community, but its dedicated user base has produced a number of useful plugins and extensions.
A basic Backbone.js view that generates a “Hello, World!” header is shown below.
var HelloWorldView = Backbone.View.extend({
render: function() {
this.$el.html("<h1>Hello, World!</h1>");
return this;
}
});The HelloWorldView is a Backbone view, which is an object with a render() method used to modify the view’s HTML. To modify the HTML, use the view’s DOM element referenced by the $el property.
This view can be used in your app by creating an instance and invoking the render() method.
var helloWorldView = new HelloWorldView();
helloWorldView.render();this will append the view’s HTML to the DOM.
5. Next.js
Next.js is a framework for creating React apps that are rendered on the server. Zeit created it, and now a group of independent programmers and corporations are responsible for keeping it updated.
Next.js provides a number of tools that make it easier to create React applications that are rendered on the server, such as automatic code splitting, server-side rendering, and a development server that supports hot module replacement.
Next.js’s primary benefit is that it simplifies the development of server-rendered React applications, which can boost both the app’s initial load time and its search engine optimization.
Automatic code splitting, server-side rendering, and a development server that supports hot module replacement are just a few of the powerful routing features provided by Next.js.
With Next.js, you can see the effects of your code changes immediately without having to reload the page thanks to the framework’s integrated development server and hot module replacement.
Next.js uses a straightforward file-system based routing implementation, where the route is specified by file name and the component that handles it is specified by the file’s export.
Due to the size and vitality of the Next.js community, a wealth of materials — including tutorials, documentation, and a plethora of third-party libraries and tools — is at your disposal. To demonstrate how easy it is to create a basic web page using Next.js, here is an example:
import React from 'react'
export default function Home() {
return <h1>Hello, World!</h1>
}The Home component is defined as a basic functional component that displays a “Hello, World!” h1 tag.
Upon initialization, this component will be rendered as your application’s root and can be accessed via the ‘/’ route.
Next.js is a powerful framework that provides a set of features to easily create fast, server-rendered React applications; it is widely used to create high-performance web apps; and it is great for building an isomorphic web app, which can run on the client and the server.
Final Thoughts
For creating dynamic websites, many developers favour one of several well-known JavaScript frameworks, such as React, Angular, Vue.js, Backbone.js, or Next.js. Each has advantages and disadvantages, so picking the right one for your project is ultimately up to you.
A large and active community makes React a potent library for creating reusable UI components. It’s widely used for developing mobile apps with the React Native framework, and it’s fantastic for constructing sophisticated user interfaces.
Angular is an extensive, community-supported framework for creating dynamic websites and web apps. It gives you everything you need to create sophisticated web applications that are both scalable and easy to maintain.
Vue.js is a lightweight, simple, and flexible framework for creating advanced user interfaces.
For the development of single-page web applications and the organisation of their code, Backbone.js is an efficient and unobtrusive framework. While it works well for smaller and medium-sized projects, its sparseness may make it unsuitable for more involved endeavours.
Next.js is a robust framework that facilitates the development of quick, server-rendered React apps. It’s great for making isomorphic web apps, or ones that work equally well on both the client and the server, and it’s used extensively for developing high-performance web apps.
Thanks for reading. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or on Twitter. Also, follow for more. Be well.
