Globally and in the USA, websites are not just a way of interacting with users. Rather, they are a great source for enablement of the purchase of services and products during 2024. That’s where intuitive front-end frameworks allow faster loading time and seamless user experience.
As a rule of thumb, understand your business model and then evaluate what suits best for your project. The first point is to evaluate the scale of your project and eventual product. Here are some of the big questions that you need to answer right away.
Who are the key users? Which features are you trying to offer them? Do you wish to expand in the future?
After all, websites are all about high-end user experience with the capacity of quick time-to-market. Keep in mind that expert companies and developers recommend the best technologies for your business and project. Many front-end frameworks are available with powerful features and expertise in specific areas.
Broaden the conversation with the efforts, time, and budget to further expand on the likely choices for your framework selection. Do a technical in-depth conversation to evaluate the framework according to its features that help you build the project interfaces.
Table of contents
- What is a front-end framework?
- Usage statistics of front-end frameworks
- Why do you need the front-end frameworks?
- Which are the best front-end frameworks to make web UIs?
- Key takeaways
- Conclusion
- FAQs about front-end frameworks
What is a front-end framework?
A front-end framework gives you the capability to develop web-centric user interfaces with indelible impressions. Front-end frameworks let you build the client side of a web application. They let developers access different types of templates to quickly code UIs for websites.
Front-end frameworks are compatible with different libraries that reduce the application code for developing the website. This great factor enables the faster and more efficient performance of the code. The libraries are a great way of dividing the code into blocks or modules that are reusable.
Usage statistics of front-end frameworks
As per Stack Overflow, 2023 has been a fantastic year for web development. In the same vein, front-end development frameworks are massively prevalent with the 90,000 developers on the survey. The results in terms of popularity, desirability, and admiration are as follows.
| Front-end framework | Popularity | Desired | Admired |
|---|---|---|---|
| React | 40.58% | 35.25% | 63.61% |
| Angular | 17.46% | 13.86% | 50.75% |
| Vue.js | 16.38% | 17.42% | 57.87% |
| AngularJS | 7.21% | 4.21% | 19.22% |
| Svelte | 6.62% | 14.18% | 74.50% |
| Solid.js | 1.36% | 4.93% | 71.71% |
| Lit | 0.68% | 0.92% | 55.71% |
Why do you need the front-end frameworks?
Thanks to the multi-tier architecture, front-end frameworks help in extending the website functionality. They allow the prevention of code duplication and simplify unit testing. With the classification of server-side and client-side, suitable front-end frameworks have become the need of the day.
In terms of technicalities, some front-end frameworks allow two-way data binding. This enables the linking of data and views. It is a great model without any need for updating the DOM on your own.
Consult with a solution architect having technical expertise to help you understand the intricacies that you need to code. It is a very crucial stage that requires vigilant scrutiny to ensure the chosen framework is compatible with your requirements. Because you cannot re-do the efforts halfway through the project timeline.
Which are the best front-end frameworks to make web UIs?
Here are the leading front-end frameworks for programming efficient websites in 2024.
Let’s have a look at these notable front-end frameworks now.
React.js
One of the first names that pops up in the mind when considering the frontend frameworks is ReactJS. After all, it is the open-source JavaScript library brought by Facebook in 2013. The primary focus of React.js is on web development with multiple dynamic components.
React has many reusable components in a tree-like structure and one-way data binding. The biggest plus point with React.js is its own virtual DOM. It uses JSX coding style along with HTML quotes and tag syntax for component creation.
With React, larger components are broken down into smaller ones. The primary advantage of all these features is that productivity greatly improves. Developers save time in building interactive user interfaces.
Ultimately, the front end of the built website is highly efficient. The best part about React.js is its high learning curve. This allows developers of any caliber to quickly learn the framework.
React allows seamless integration with other front-end frameworks and back-end frameworks. This means a large ecosystem of tools, plugins, and workflow are available for creating web interfaces as per unique requirements. React is a great choice for large projects and powers Netflix, Salesforce, Dropbox, and of course Facebook.
Angular
A big name in the front-end technologies for developing dynamic and scalable web applications is Angular. Google came up with Angular.js in 2010, which became one of the most popular open-source component-driven frameworks. Angular is a complete rewrite of Angular.js in TypeScript.
The versatility of Angular empowers building applications for different platforms at once. You can reuse code written in Angular for SPAs, web apps, PWAs, mobile projects, and native desktop applications.
Angular has extensive sources of libraries and tools to build, test, and modify the code. The best thing about the Angular framework is that it is continuously adding multiple features. It allows developers to get more done through the framework.
A large community patronage and extensive documentation facilitate new developers to easily learn Angular. With many advantages, Angular helps in developing applications of varying magnitudes, from single-page applications to enterprise-grade apps. Some of the companies that have used Angular include Deutsche Bank, Gmail, Forbes, PayPal, YouTube, and Walmart.
Vue.js
Another widely popular name in the front-end frameworks is VueJS. Especially, because of the small size of documents and its HTML-based syntax. It has a component-based development model that enables attaching components to a project.
Vue.js also has an MVVM architecture that is used for handling HTML blocks. It easily allows the binding of existing applications. Moreover, the documentation sources are plenty, so the developers can readily understand and learn the framework.
Because of these reasons, Vue has become one of the favorites in the market. It helps in developing interactive UI elements that are lightweight and easy to adapt. As scalability is another factor, the small projects built using Vue.js can then scale up to larger ones.
It is a great consideration for companies who want to start by testing the market with an MVP. They can gradually ramp up their project once they are certain of its viability. Vue is a great choice, that’s why Adobe, Grammarly, Alibaba, GitLab, and Xiami are using the framework for their products.
Technically speaking, Vue is full of great features. For example its command-line interface (CLI) for generating the code, and developing as well as deploying the app. It even entails an API for data-reactive elements.
Ember.js
Next in line is Ember which is suitable for creating powerful and scalable single-page applications and complex web apps. It has the MVVM pattern and tools that design a robust development environment. Ember.js even has a CLI for script automation.
One of its most prominent features includes integrated backward compatibility, which is why EmberJS remains active in development. Ember is quite flexible and broadly widespread. Also, it has great documentation and extensive support from the community that makes it easier to learn and adapt the framework.
Ember.js is used by Tinder, Netflix, Apple Music, Yahoo, LinkedIn, and PlayStation Now. Primarily, it is ideal for web programming. However, you can even utilize it for desktop applications and mobile apps as well.
jQuery
Launching in 2006, jQuery is a great frontend framework (in fact a JavaScript library). It enables seamless interactions between JavaScript code, HTML tags, and CSS elements. Therefore, the built websites are consistent, with dynamic and interactive elements.
jQuery has multiple DOM modification tools and comes with thorough API documentation. Additionally, it enables tasks like event handling, AJAX, animation, document traversal, and manipulation. Another plus point of jQuery is that developers don’t have to bother about cross-browser issues, as it handles browser interchangeability.
Apart from all this, jQuery has a solid community with various learning resources and examples. Companies like LinkedIn, Uber, Twitter, Slack, Udemy, and Bank of America use jQuery. In the last few years, jQuery has become a serious contender among the front-end frameworks.
Next.js
If you are looking to develop fast web apps, then Next.js is your go-to framework. It is full of great features including static site and server-side rendering. You can update pages by re-rendering them in the background as traffic comes in.
The automatic static optimization in NextJS allows static content to become dynamic. Next.js is best suited even for SEO because of server-side rendering. You can develop web applications in a zero-config environment that provides all the tools you need out of the box.
NextJS delivers so many amazing benefits. It is suitable for creating interfaces for both single-page and complex web apps. Next.js is powering Netflix, Uber, and Starbucks.
Svelte
A rather new entrant in comparison to others on the list, Svelte came in 2017 to develop high-performance user interfaces. However, it has grown in immense popularity because it is easy to use and implement. It does not have a virtual DOM.
The code written in the Svelte framework compiles into JavaScript. That’s a sure winner because it allows greater speed against other frameworks such as React or Vue. Svelte is a great choice particularly if you are planning to develop a small application with a quicker turnaround time.
It is so easy in syntax, that even new beginners can easily pick it up and start implementing the code. Its compatibility with native HTML code enables smaller-sized applications. Likewise, Svelte is modular so that developers can write components in HTML, CSS, and JS.
The only downside is that it lacks a dedicated app security page. Nonetheless, the later updates of the framework will likely address this problem. It is currently used by companies such as IBM, Rakuten, and Phillips.
Backbone.js
An open-source framework that many businesses around the world are using for front-end development is BackboneJS. The primary feature of Backbone.js is that it provides various building blocks including models, views, routers, events, and collections. It is a great choice for developing responsive web and mobile applications.
Backbone has a structured format to build static as well as dynamic websites. The cherry on the cake is that these websites are light on resource consumption. BackboneJS communicates with the current API through the Restful JSON user interface.
It comes with more than 100 extensions and plugins. So, developers have diverse choices in implementing the right code as per their business requirements. Some famous companies that use Backbone.js include MasterCard, Pandora, Pinterest, Reddit, Trello, and Walmart.
Preact
The name of the Preact framework sounds similar to React. Why not, as it is just like a lightweight version of the latter with all the same features? Since Preact is smaller in size, it has the fastest virtual DOM allowing the use of components between both frameworks.
Apart from being compact, Preact delivers great performance. It has ES6 class components as well that props/pass state to render. Due to these features, programmers consider Preact a drop-in replacement for React.
Preact is a great choice for developing smaller applications. Specifically, that don’t have any complex sort of integrations. Preact is used by Google, Bigblue Platform, and Didomi to name a few.
Aurelia
Last in our discussion of front-end frameworks is Aurelia. It is the only framework that empowers you to build components using vanilla JavaScript or TypeScript. Especially, developers having the know-how of modern JS and HTML can use Aurelia to their advantage to build complex apps.
Aurelia is extremely high-performance and capable of batching DOM updates. It has an extensive ecosystem and even allows reactive binding to any object. Testing is relatively simple in Aurelia as it comes with a robust dependency injection container and testing library.
You can even create custom elements with Aurelia. It has great extensibility to give you a wide range of coverage on adding custom attributes to your existing elements. Aurelia comes last on our list, but it is not inferior in benefits.
Key takeaways
- Companies always want the best software frameworks for their web projects.
- Web frameworks give you a greater margin to deliver your products or services to customers through the best application stack.
- Front-end frameworks enable you to develop the client side of the web application.
- They are compatible with many internal libraries of the core programming language.
- Some leading front-end frameworks are React, Angular, Vue, Ember, jQuery, Next, Svelte, Backbone, Preact, and Aurelia.
- They reduce the overall development time of the website or web app.
- React takes the prize as the most popular front-end framework for web application development.
- Angular, jQuery, and Vue closely follow React as the most common front-end frameworks.
- The choice of the best front-end framework for your web application depends on your project size, complexity, and timelines.
Conclusion
Considering the choices among the front-end frameworks for your web development project is a cumbersome task. The possibilities are immense but it boils down to the features and level of detail you are looking for. After all, it’s not about following the crowd and just going with the flow.
React, Vue, and Angular are the go-to options in the front-end frameworks. Nevertheless, they may not be the ideal choices for your business. Check the statistics and research the benefits during your selection process.
All of the front-end frameworks in our list are amazing with plentiful features. Some of them are better for small-scale user-facing websites. Whereas, some are more apt for larger enterprise-level web applications.
Do you want to build standout websites with high-end user interfaces? We at Techliance cover all corners to better serve you in touching all bases. You get a truly amazing web experience that is set to resonate with your audience.
FAQs about front-end frameworks
Here are the answers to the frequently asked questions regarding frontend frameworks.
What should I consider when selecting a frontend framework?
Choosing the best front-end framework for your project is a challenging task. Some of the factors you could consider are popularity, web app development support, and usability. Other important core features to contemplate are ease of integration, rendering on the server, flexibility, and future up-scaling.
Which is the easiest front-end framework to start with?
Vue.js is one of the simplest front-end development frameworks. Arguably, its relatively small size makes it a straightforward UI framework. Its virtual DOM along with component-driven architecture, and two-way data binding turn VueJS into a powerful technology.
What is the most difficult front-end framework?
Developers consider Angular one of the most complex front-end frameworks. Because it can turn out challenging to learn Angular on your own from scratch. Together with mastering “pure” JavaScript, you also need to have a command on TypeScript.
Which frontend framework is widely used?
Globally, React and jQuery are the top two most commonly used frontend frameworks. Angular, Vue.js, and Svelte closely follow them in popularity. Pick a frontend framework that better aligns with your requirements.
Is front-end web development easier than back-end development?
In general, it’s easier to learn front-end development in comparison to getting command over back-end development. Because there are fewer technologies you need to understand to start developing web-centric user interfaces. HTML and CSS are also fairly straightforward in contrast to other programming skills.
What is the purpose of UI frameworks?
The UI frameworks play a handy role in building user interfaces quickly and easily. By providing pre-written code libraries and ready-to-use UI components, they save you from doing this exercise from scratch. Furthermore, they provide user-centric responsive components that are compatible across browsers and devices.
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