The most popular JavaScript Frameworks

JavaScript is one of the basic web technology languages, used on nearly 95% of websites. Among them, we can list such huge companies as Google, YouTube, and Facebook.

JavaScript was the first widely used technology that adds interactive features to formerly static web pages. Thanks to JS, it has become possible to dynamically change the content of web pages without reloading them (DOM manipulation, i.e. the Document Object Model) or even building full applications running in the browser window (so-called single-page applications). Thanks to JavaScript, multimedia elements such as animations, sound effects, embedded movies, and interactive maps have appeared on websites.

Initially, JavaScript was limited to browsers (which were its runtime environment), i.e. on the client-side, but soon technologies for running JS on the server side developed.

As one of the most popular programming languages, JavaScript has numerous frameworks or "overlays" that facilitate the implementation of a collection of frequently repeated tasks. Thanks to these frameworks it is possible to produce code that implements typical functionalities faster. Because of the proliferation of such solutions, there is common humor in the programming community that there is no day that some new JavaScript framework will not appear.

Follwoing is a list of interesting JavaScript frameworks and libraries:

1. React

React.js is probably the most popular front-end JavaScript framework these days. It is an efficient and flexible tool that is used to create web application interfaces. Thanks to the usage of the virtual model DOM, React.js updates the website content very efficiently. React is currently used on websites such as Facebook, Netflix, PayPal, and Walmart.

2. Vue.js

Vue.js, like React, is one of the most popular JavaScript frameworks used to build the user interface, but it is distinguished by its smaller size of libraries, greater intuitiveness, and configurability. It allows you to create both simple and advanced applications. Vue.js is currently used even by large Chinese market players, such as Alibaba and Baidu.

3. Angular

Angular, like React, js and Vue.js is one of the most popular JavaScript frameworks. Of these three, it was created the earliest, which makes it probably the most mature framework from this group. Among other things, it is strongly supported by developers community. It is mainly used to build single-page web applications. The evidence of Angular class is the fact that it was created and is intensively used by Google.

4. Preact

Preact is a JavaScript library modeled on React, but more efficient. The main advantage of Preact over its original are small (3 kB) libraries and the fact that, as its authors claim, it implements the fastest virtual DOM among all JS frameworks. Preact is used by companies such as Groupon and Uber.

5. Svelte

Svelte is a fairly young JavaScript framework, but it has already gained a lot of interest among programmers. According to data published on the website 2019.stateofjs.com, nearly 45% of respondents expressed interest in learning this new framework. Its main usage includes creating graphical interfaces for web applications. An application written using Svelte does not weigh too much, and its source code is limited to a small number of lines in the code compared to other frameworks. For example, the size of an application written in Svlete can be up to 10 times smaller than the size of an application created using React. Svelte is currently used by companies such as Philips, Rakuten, and the New York Times.

6. Node.js

Node.js is a platform that independently implements JavaScript functionality. This platform employs an API; that creates websites based on event-driven programming. Besides the ability to run JavaScript scripts in environments outside of a web browser, the platform provides plenty of modules, which actually represent an enormous set of programming tools. Currently, many companies such as Linkedln, Microsoft, Uber, and Yahoo! use this backend framework.

7. Backbone.js

Backbone.js is a JavaScript library for creating single-page web applications. This solution is characterized by a transparent structure and operation as well as the potental for integration. With Backbone.js, all data is represented as models that you can create, validate, save, and destroy. This library is currently used on websites such as Linkedln Mobile, USAToday.com, and WordPress.com.

8. Express.js

Express.js is a fast and minimalistic open-source framework for the Node.js environment. It provides a solid set of functions for mobile and web applications. According to data from 2019.stateofjs.com Express.js is the most popular of the currently available JavaScript backend platforms. Currently, it is used by companies such as IBM, Fox Sport, and Uber

9. Meteor

Meteor is a JavaScript framework used to deploy and develop complete web, mobile, and desktop applications. As IDevE (open-source Isomorphic Development Ecosystem), it facilitates the creation of full Internet applications from scratch, because it contains all the necessary backend and frontend components. Meteor is used by large companies, e.g. IKEA alb Mazda.

10. Ember.js

Ember.js is a JavaScript framework designed to create single-page applications and web solutions, but also mobile and desktop ones. It enables the creation of easy-to-maintain solutions, and thanks to the two-way data binding function it is a great platform to operate complex interfaces. Ember uses templates that automate the update of the model when the content of the application changes. Many popular websites such as Netlfix and Linkedln use this platform.