Starting the journey as a developer or as a tester one might encounter issues like which language, framework, or tools they should use or should have knowledge about. Since there is a range of languages and frameworks available in the application development community, there is no single solution or option. But when talking about the development of a website, the JavaScript framework comes quickly to the mind of the programmers and companies in today’s world.
JavaScript is considered to be the language of the web. Because of the availability of a number of frameworks it has gained massive popularity in developmental organizations.
Before moving forward it is important to know what a JavaScript framework is, its benefits, and what to keep in mind while choosing the best framework.
JavaScript is one of the most powerful and flexible programming languages, and so are its frameworks. An application framework written in JavaScript code is a JavaScript framework. It is a collection of pre-written code built to support applications and provides the benefit of making the development easy.
A web development framework is an abstraction in which an application providing generic functionality can be selectively changed by additional user-written code. Frameworks are more adaptable for web design, and hence most website developers use them.
A framework with JavaScript is an essential part of modern front-end web development. They make the working process easier and smoother and offer possibilities to make applications device responsive. It also allows the developers to build scalable and interactive web applications easily.
Developers are doing great in making web applications using JavaScript frameworks. Having several ready-to-use functions and methods allows them to manipulate the functions and use them for their convenience.
JavaScript is used for front-end development and to improve web user interface, its frameworks are serving the same purpose in a more productive manner.
They make webpages interactive by having complex animations, clickable buttons, popup menus, etc. The advanced server-side versions of JavaScript such as Node.js allow adding more functionality to a website.
Moving ahead Let’s have a look at some of the key benefits of using a JavaScript framework.
Benefits
- Strong community support- Since frameworks are used by a large number of people, which means other developers may have already come up with solutions to certain problems.
- Ease of use- Having predefined functions, makes it easy to use when developing applications and websites. It also enables Writing maintainable and easy-to-read code.
- Time-saving- JavaScript framework allows launching your app or website quickly.
- Cost-effective- Lots of popular JavaScript frameworks are free to use, hence making them cost-effective
When choosing a framework, it is important to consider what the framework is good at. JavaScript continues to be the dominant language when it comes to web development. Various JavaScript frameworks have their own uses and each comes with unique features. However, that should not be the only factor to consider.
Studying the project requirements like analyzing the design and features of the application and where you want to use the framework is also very important when choosing a framework. Another thing that should come first before choosing a JavaScript framework is to learn about its features and complexities.
Here I will be highlighting the 6 best JavaScript frameworks that can help you choose a suitable one for your future need. I hope that it provides you with a good start for making a decision. Here they are-
1. React.js
React is a free and open-source and the most prominent JS framework. It is a fast, flexible, scalable, and reusable JavaScript framework used for building high-quality user interfaces for most devices. It also helps in building faster and scalable applications for all platforms. Facebook support, improved efficiency, and reusable components are the key reasons behind React’s popularity among others available frameworks on the list.
React’s idea of Components is self-contained modules of code that can be reused. Thus helping the developers to save their time by once writing the code and reusing it across the application. You just need to change the code in one location for updates.
This framework has earned popularity very quickly due to its enormous feature support. Websites like BBC and Dropbox are built with React.
2. Angular.js
Angular is an open-source and one of the most powerful and efficient JavaScript frameworks, that can be used on the frontend or backend for developing single-page applications( SPA). Angular offers some of the best features such as two-way data binding which means less time and effort investment. It enables real-time synchronization between the model and view.
It has a built-in service that extends the HTML into the application and interprets the attributes to perform data binding. There is no need to learn another scripting language. It is pure JavaScript and HTML. It has the capabilities of a modern web platform to deliver app-like experiences that are high performance, offline, and zero-step installation.
It is mostly used to develop single-use applications. Since it is growing rapidly, many of its versions are available now. This framework is ideal for developing enterprise-grade applications making it easy to incorporate complex functionalities.
Websites like IBM, and PayPal, are created with Angular.
3. Ember.js
EmberJS has gained popularity with its wide application area. It is an open-source framework that allows developers to create a wide range of web applications. The two-way data binding support makes it a reliable platform for handling complicated User Interfaces no matter the size of the website.
It has been an extraordinarily supported adaptable and flexible framework . The development model is built around HTML and CSS, thus lowering the learning curve. It creates JavaScript web applications that can be reused and can be easily maintained.
Another important feature that it offers is the Ember Inspector tool that is used for debugging its applications. Using its templates helps to automatically update the model if the content of applications gets changed.
4. Vue.js
Vue.js is an open-source and progressive framework, by offering numerous features like detailed documentation, reactivity, and reusability it has been growing at a high rate. Being a relatively small size framework and providing modern and high-performing apps it has proved its worth in making its way into the market
This front-end JavaScript framework is designed to be accessible, versatile, and mainly used to build user interfaces and single-page applications.
Vue provides the developers a high level of flexibility by allowing them to start coding quickly and add any feature required by the project. The design of the framework has good documentation making it easy to learn and use as you don’t need to understand all its features and capabilities. One of its most attractive features is the dual integration mode for creating a high-end SPA.
Vue has been designed to improve on the features of frontend frameworks like Angular and React and deliver a better and more secure framework.
By offering two-way data binding feature it facilitates the process of manipulation and assignment of values to HTML attributes, changing of style, assigning classes, etc
Websites like Adobe and Grammarly are built using Vue.js.
5. Node. js
Node.js is an open-source JavaScript run-time environment that works on cross platforms. The framework is designed to build scalable network applications by following a procedure that makes it possible for the server to respond in a non-blocking manner.
This framework is optimized for efficient handling of resources and can be integrated well with other frameworks and libraries. Its library is Built on Google Chrome’s JavaScript Engine, making it fast in code execution.
Node.js cuts down processing time when uploading audio and video files. The application’s data gets out in chunks as it does not take any buffering time.
6. ExpressJS
Express JS has proved to be the best JavaScript front-end framework. It is used to create web applications and REST APIs by integrating with other apps and dynamically serving static HTML files to the web. It is used with Node.js, which enables efficient and faster creation of node-based web applications without obscuring the functionality of Node.js.
Express is a lightweight and scalable framework that provides easy routing management, setting up middleware packages, and integrating plugins in server-side code. One of the many companies using Express in the codebase is Twitter.
Conclusion
JavaScript is one of the most popular programming languages among developers. After creating websites or apps using your favorite JavaScript frameworks, you must test them across different browsers and OS for browser compatibility.
In order to create an application with the optimal user experience, a cloud based testing platform like LambdaTest comes as one of the best choices. It is a scalable cross-browser testing platform that supports JavaScript automation testing of websites and apps across real devices, browsers and operating systems.
LambdaTest offers access to over 3000+ browsers, devices, and operating systems with their respective versions to test on. Testing on a real device cloud ensures that your web element is rendering seamlessly over each desktop and web browser. It offers online Selenium Grid that lets you perform parallel testing and significantly reduce your test cycles and increase your product delivery efficiency by executing parallel testing.
Vixit Raj is Product Growth and Marketing Specialist in LambdaTest : The Cross Browser Web App Testing Platform. An E&C engineering background & digital marketing domain experience of 5+ years has aroused his interest towards learning more about latest technology advancements, product marketing, coding and testing.