Top JavaScript Frameworks in 2023

In this article today, we are going to talk about top JavaScript Frameworks in 2023 for Front-End and Back-end.

We all have seen the rapid growth and evolution of programming languages over a decade.

Programming languages have evolved a lot over the decades. There has been constant work to make these languages better so it enhances the overall development practices. Today, we can use various JavaScript frameworks, .NET frameworks, etc., along with their libraries to develop applications faster and in a better way.

If we look back in time and think about the time we wrote our first line of code, we remember how many lines we wrote for the “Hello World” program. Hence, the development has become better over the years.

Today when we talk about development languages, one word which you might often hear from everyone is “JavaScript”. Since its inception, JavaScript has made the development better, faster, and easier for developers.

Herein, we will dive deep into JavaScript frameworks and know how it has evolved over a year.

Let’s begin:

Brief History of JavaScript

The story of JavaScript came into existence as Netscape wanted to make the client-side web more interactive. Brendan Eich developed JavaScript in 1995, initially the project’s name was Mocha. Later in September the first stable release was there and was called LiveScript. Finally, the beta version 3 was released in December, 1995 with the official name, which we all know today: JavaScript

What is JavaScript?

JavaScript is a text-based programming language useful for client-side and server-side applications to make web pages interactive. It helps overcome the shortcomings of HTML and CSS by making them interactive.

According to research done by Stackoverflow, 65.36% of developers prefer to use JavaScript.

Going further, let’s see usage of JavaScript:

Core Areas were JavaScript is Used

1. Making Web Pages Interactive:

   JavaScript leads the market when it comes to making interactive web pages. Many leading companies like Google, YouTube, and Facebook use JavaScript. Additionally, it also allows developers to implement features like:

   • Easily adding hover effects
   • Creating carousels for images
   • Zooming in and out of images
   • Adding animations
   • Playing audio-video on your web page

   And more…

2. Developing Web and Mobile Apps

   JavaScript has an extensive collection of frameworks using which developers can easily build applications for mobile and web. JavaScript frameworks are the pre-written JavaScript code that developers use for standard features. Below are some of the popular JavaScript frameworks:

   • React
   • React native
   • Node.JS

   Going further, we will see each of them and others in detail.

3. Developing Web Servers and Server Applications

   JavaScript is widely used for back-end or server-side development because it makes a call to the remote server when a web page loads on the browser. When a browser loads a web page, it makes a call to a remote server. Further, the code parses the page’s URL to understand users’ requirements before retrieving and transforming the required data to serve back to the browser. The widely used framework for this is Node.JS.

   Here’s a quick guide to Node.JS vs Python.

4. Game Development

   JavaScript is useful to create in-browser games. Developers use it to create 2D and 3D puzzles, role-playing games, racing games, platform games, etc. There are many JavaScript game engines which provide frameworks for building games, many of which are free and open-source. Most popular engines are Backbone, DarlingJS, and JawsJS.

   Some of the popular games built using JavaScript are:

   • Angry Birds
   • 2048
   • Polycraft
   • Little Alchemy

   And more…

5. Artificial Intelligence

   JavaScript is useful to develop AI, as libraries like TensorFlow bring the power of machine learning for JavaScript developers. Today developers can rely on these libraries to create machine learning models and are changing the world in a better way.

6. Virtual Reality

   Using JavaScript you can develop applications for Virtual Reality. In fact, one of the most popular frameworks is A-Frame when it comes to building an application with an aim to provide better experience in the web browser.

   A-Frame is a popular JavaScript framework used to build virtual reality experiences in web browsers.

What is a JavaScript Framework?

JavaScript framework allows accessing JS code libraries, for using publicly available source code to save time on development codes. Using framework, you don’t need to do the nitty gritty of code. Moreover, there are already coded components which you can use in your source code. Thus, making you code faster and better as a developer.

Why Developers are Shifting to Javascript:

Developers widely prefer to use JavaScript as it helps them to enhance their developing skills. Below are the major three reasons, developers use JavaScript:

1. Saves Time

   Using frameworks helps decrease development time, as a result enhancing overall productivity. You can explore a large library with various features which helps you to build on your imagination.

2. Enhances Agile Software Development

   JavaScript has enabled easy and fast agile development with the help of libraries. Developers today can develop an application or website quickly with the help of these existing libraries.

3. Quick to Launch

   JavaScript helps you to develop and launch products quickly. With the large amount of existing libraries, developers can quickly develop an application, saving plenty of time and resources. This in turn helps businesses to launch their product quickly in the market and provide services to their customers.

   Next up, let’s see the current state of JavaScript Frameworks.

Current State of JavaScript Frameworks:

JavaScript has plenty of frameworks which we will see going further. When it comes to choosing a framework which is the best, there is not one answer to it. There are many features and variables which are considered while understanding which is the best framework and why do developers prefer it.

When it comes to choosing the most popular framework, we consider data from GitHub Stars, NPM Downloads, Developer Survey Result, etc. According to research from Statista, the top 2 best frameworks are ReactJS and jQuery, surpassing others. This data shows that even after a decade of being launched JavaScript is ruling the development world.

And now let’s take a high-level view of the JavaScript Frameworks and Web Technologies survey 2022 published by StackOverflow. As per the report, Node.js and React.js are the two most JavaScript frameworks used by professional developers and those learning to code. Angular is popular among Professional Developers than those learning to code (23% vs 10%).

Thus, we can say that JavaScript and its framework has come a long way.

One of the major questions which everyone asks is the difference between JavaScript framework and JavaScript Library. So, let’s clear this confusion.

JavaScript Frameworks Vs JavaScript Library:

The difference between framework and libraries is that libraries consist of functions which an application calls to perform a task. Whereas, a framework defines a way developers design an application. When you are considering JavaScript library or framework, here are certain questions you should ask yourself:

• Is the library or framework you are choosing flexible?
• What is the regularity of updates in the library or framework and is compatible with new standards?
• Is the library or framework secured?
• How is the community support of the library and framework you are choosing?

Answering these questions will guide you towards choosing the right framework and library for your project.

Next up, let’s see the famous JavaScript frameworks in detail:

JavaScript Frameworks:

JavaScripts frameworks are divided into two forms:

• Front-end JavaScript Frameworks
• Back-end JavaScript Frameworks

Top Front-end JavaScript Frameworks:

1. Vue.JS

   Vue.JS is progressive framework used for building one-page applications. It is useful and designed for scalability and incrementality. Moreover, it is easy to integrate with other libraries and is focused on the view layer. It is widely useful and accepted in the developer ecosystem to develop desktop and mobile-based applications.

   Vue.JS uses MVC (Model-View-Controller) architecture and can be useful along with different architectural frameworks like CBA (Component-Based-Architecture). It has a unique ability to interact with various available frameworks which has made Vue.JS a goto choice for web development.

   

   Pros:

   • Low storage requirements
   • Easy and simple to learn
   • Easy integration between HTML and JavaScript
   • Developers can reuse the components
   • Vue.JS uses component based architecture which makes it easier for developers to reuse components and is good for unit-testing.

   Cons:

   • It has a restricted community and has language barriers
   • Lack of financial support for the large scale projects
   • Vue.JS has limited number of plugins and other resources compared to other JavaScript frameworks

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2. AngularJS

   AngularJS is an open source framework used for developing web applications. Google developed it and made it open source in 2010. It is one of the top choices of developers when it comes to building web applications using JavaScript. Hire web developers from SolGuruz and allow us to help you build white label solutions.

   

   Pros:

   • Two-way data binding
   • Improves performance of the server
   • Faster application prototyping
   • Easy to develop responsive applications
   • It uses MVVM architecture

   Cons:

   • JavaScript support is necessary
   • Difficult to learn for new developers
   • Lack of SEO support
   • Difficult to migrate from one version to another
   • Difficult to debug the code

3. Svelte JS

   SvelteJS is a modern JavaScript framework which is useful to build static web apps which are fast, lean, and are fun. You can use Svelte to build single, reusable components, large or even small scale projects. Svelte has started gaining attention because of its ability to produce smaller code bundles which run faster in web browsers.

   

   Pros:

   • Easy to learn for budding developers
   • Reduces overhead
   • Does not need Virtual DOM
   • Supports client and server side rendering

   Cons:

   • Does not support cross-platform development
   • Small community, making it difficult for new developers to learn
   • Lack of IDE support
   • Difficult to scale large projects
   • Inefficient tools for debugging

4. ReactJS

   ReactJS is a JavaScript based UI development library which is developed by Facebook. It is an open-source framework which is widely used by developers for web development. One of the major reasons why React.JS is widely popular is because it uses Virtual DOM. This enables developers to create web applications faster.

   

   Pros:

   • Easy to learn and use
   • Creating dynamic web applications becomes faster
   • Reusable components
   • SEO friendly
   • Easy to test the code

   Cons:

   • Poor documentation makes it difficult for new developers to learn it faster
   • ReactJS only focuses on the UI part of the development. So, developers will have to choose another technology for backend development.

5. BackboneJS

   BackboneJS is a lightweight JavaScript which allows you to develop and structure the client side application. It uses MVC framework which abstracts data in models, DOM into views, and binds them using events.

   

   Pros:

   • Allows you to create single page application
   • Easy to learn and use
   • Large community and ecosystem

   Cons:

   • Poor user experience for large data structures
   • Support only RESTful APIs
   • Difficult to carry out testing
   • Lack of controller building

6. EmberJS

   Ember.JS is an open source, JavaScript client-side framework which is useful for developing web applications. It provides a complete solution containing data management and application flow to develop an application making it one of the reasons why developers prefer to use it. Ember.JS too uses an MVVM architecture pattern along with a command-line interface tool that helps in developing faster.

   

   Pros:

   • Heavy with plugins and add-ons to make development faster and easier
   • Provides ability to build faster and reload live using CLI
   • Ember.JS has a strong support of the community with 900 contributors on GitHub.

   Cons:

   • Difficult to learn for new developers who are getting into JavaScript
   • Not a first choice for small-scale projects
   • Developers can reuse the components

7. PreactJS

   PreactJS is a JavaScript library which is said to be the fast 3Kb alternative to ReactJS using the same modern API. It implements the fastest virtual DOM, compared to other frameworks in the market. Moreover, it is one of the smallest libraries in terms of size.

   

   Pros:

   • It is lightweight and fast framework
   • High efficiency compared to React
   • Dedicated CLI
   • Easily integrates with the existing React projects

   Cons:

   • Small community of programmers compared to other JS frameworks
   • Possibility of typescript conflicts
   • Large and complex codebase
   • Supports stateless components

8. PolymerJS

   PolymerJS is useful for web development by providing developers with an ability to create their own HTML elements. Developers can create new custom elements which can be reused in your HTML pages in a declarative way. PolymerJS is an emerging technology with plenty of benefits but it also makes it difficult for new developers to learn.
   

   Pros:

   • Developers can create their plugins and know how things work in the same component. This also allows developers to write plugins in JavaScript.
   • Helps in reducing the gaps between developers and designers.
   • It is faster on Chrome and Safari, providing developers with an ability to create feature-rich applications.

   Cons:

   • It is time consuming when it comes to developing components for each browser.
   • Websites developed using PolymerJS are often slow in performance when opened using mobile devices as it does not have a powerful JS engine.
   • PolymerJS does not work with Internet Explorer.
   • It requires developers to download the entire library and Polyfills.

9. Gatsby JS

   Gatsby JS is a free, open-source, React-based framework which is used to create static websites. It has a great ecosystem of plugins which serves various needs like sourcing data from CMSs, integrating tools, managing images using lazy loading and more.

   

   Pros:

   • Supports SEO
   • Has great popularity
   • Great performance
   • Faster page loading speed compared to other frameworks

   Cons:

   • Less number of developers
   • Takes up time for building an application

10. Next JS

    NextJS is a framework which is built on the top of React to help developers to create performant web applications and superfast static websites. NextJS is one of the most popular React frameworks which is useful for creating server-side rendering web applications which are static as well as dynamic.

    

    Pros:

    • Supports SEO
    • Large community support
    • Provides huge flexibility in developing UX and UI
    • Ability to build static and dynamic websites

    Cons:

    • Poor plugin ecosystem
    • Needs development in order to make changes
    • Is considered to be an expensive option

Top Back-end JavaScript Frameworks:

1. Node.JS

   Node.js is a runtime environment based on Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine. This technology was introduced in 2009 by Ryan Dahl at the annual European JSConf. It is useful for server-side development and is an open-source, cross-platform JavaScript which is useful in development of real-time network applications. Check out our expert insights on the latest NodeJs development trends.
   

   Pros:

   • Easy to scale
   • It is the most popular and easy to learn JavaScript
   • It is useful to develop front-end and back-end applications using a single script. This also makes it as full-stack JavaScript
   • It has large and active communities across the globe

   Cons:

   • Does not support stable API
   • Lack of strong library support
   • The programming model is asynchronous

2. Express JS

   Express.JS is used to create Restful APIs which is useful to accept requests from the frontend and send the appropriate response. Express.JS supports Node.js which is one of the best reasons why developers choose to use it. Moreover, debugging becomes faster and helps in finding errors in less time.

   

   Pros:

   • Ability to scale application faster
   • Developers can use ExpressJs for frontend development as well
   • Less maintenance cost
   • Large community support
   • Supports V8 machine of Google

   Cons:

   • Error messages have no description
   • Difficult to find optimum way for server side coding
   • There are certain issues in call back

3. NestJS

   Nest (NestJS) is a framework for building efficient and scalable server-side backend applications using Node.Js. Internally, it actually makes use of JavaScript Back-end frameworks like Express (which is default, and optionally Fastify can be configured to use as well!

   It actually provides a level of abstraction above these common Node.js frameworks (Express/Fastify). It also exposes their APIs directly to the developer. This allows developers an ability to use the wide range of third-party modules which are available for the underlying platform.

   It’s based on the progressive JavaScript, is built with and fully supports TypeScript (yet still enables developers to code in pure JavaScript) and combines elements of OOP (Object Oriented Programming), FP (Functional Programming), and FRP (Functional Reactive Programming).

   

   Pros:

   • Based on Typescript
   • Modular structure and organisation
   • Scalable architecture
   • Having built-in (Dependency Injection) container
   • Simplified testing of features
   • Easy to understand documentation
   • Angular style syntax for the backend

   Cons:

   • Too much abstraction and obfuscation
   • Lacking in features compared to frameworks in other languages

How to Choose the Right JavaScript Frameworks

The major question by any company is how to choose the correct framework for your project? This completely depends on your project requirements. All the JavaScript frameworks have their pros and cons and when it comes to choosing the right framework for you, following are the things you need to consider:

• What are your project requirements?
• How much resources, cost, and time are you likely to invest?
• How much community support is there for these frameworks?
• How secure is the framework?
• Does the framework have a rich set of tools and libraries to enhance the overall development?
• How much time will it take for new developers to learn a framework?

These are some of the basic questions which you can ask yourself before selecting the framework. However, when it comes to developing an application, there are plenty of things one needs to consider. But, if you are looking for help, who can handle all the complexities of development, you can reach out to us. Hire React developers from SolGuruz. We have expert React developers who are experienced as well as have in-depth knowledge about a vast range of JavaScript developers.

Conclusion

There are plenty of JavaScript frameworks and each of them have their advantages and dis-advantages. Being a web development agency we have helped many companies to develop white label apps development solutions with the help of our expert Node developers. If you are searching for an agency who helps you to build an end-to-end solution, we can be your one stop solution.

JavaScript Frameworks – Frequently Asked Questions: