Top JavaScript Frameworks

When deciding on a framework, one must first understand what a framework really is and how it can be helpful, I have compiled a list of benefits one can gain by using a framework.

Efficiency

Using frameworks are very efficient because much of the spaghetti code is already written, we’ve all heard the famous quote ‘why reinvent the wheel’. Frameworks come packed with pre-build functions and patterns that make it super simple and easy to create feature rich applications, by only typing a few lines of code. Web applications that used to take you the developer months to code will now only take a few weeks with the frameworks I will mention below.

Safety

It is difficult to test Code created by yourself for vulnerabilities as contrary to belief on how your application flow will plan, most times users find a way to break the system, features need to be tested in every way to ensure they don’t break the application, using a framework is highly advantageous as they are supported by large communities that test the code in every way possible. Why support your application with a weak backbone (your code) and instead use a very strong Framework with a strong backbone.

Cost / time

Simply put using a Framework will reduce coding time substantially, no more spending hours scratching your head thinking why this piece of code isn’t working with this piece, come on we have all been there confused as to why the the code isn’t working in the way we think it should be working. Why would you go through all that torture knowing someone has already gone through the same torture creating a nice and shiny Framework that can be used by you. Save yourself from that pain by using an easy and simple framework. Additionally, you may be thinking that frameworks have a learning curve, that is true however learning to create half of the things that can do in vanilla JavaScript will have you painfully scratching your head.

Ok recruits, now we move on to the actual Frameworks. I will list the 2 frameworks I recommend you should learn and remember only pick one and stick with it. I mean hopping around Is not recommended as it hinders your productivity, end of the day all these frameworks have a common goal, make your life easier.

• Vue 2.js
• Angular

Oh boy, now that you have seen the frameworks I recommend, time to explain these frameworks.

Vue2, in my opinion, is the easiest Framework and has the lowest learning curve compared to the others, make no mistake this is a very powerful Framework. It is Faster than Angular and offers two-way data binding.

I mentioned two-way data binding in the ending of the above paragraph, just because I mentioned it towards the end, don’t let that shadow its importance, two-way data binding allows you bind an object in JavaScript to an element on the DOM. Whenever the data object changes, the element on the dom that particular data object was binded to will automatically be updated. With two-way data-binding, we don’t have to worry about updating the DOM, because as soon as the data changes the dom will automatically be updated.

Code example of Two-way data binding:

A simple overview of two-way data binding, as you can see I am displaying dataTyped from the data object in the p tag by using {{}} operators. This in Vue is used to display data from the instance of Vue. [anyone having issues getting vue.js set up can contact me at tayyab720@hotmail.com for help ]

Moving on from two-way data binding, Vue is better for quick development, because it has a lower learning curve, and best for single page applications.

Opps I did it again, assumed that you would know what a spa is without explaining it. Firstly, SPA stands for single page application, a traditional website has many pages and feels like a website, the idea of spa is to make a website feel more like a native app like feel, by only having one page, when the user clicks on a button, the data is dynamically generated instead of going to the page.

How does Vue make SPA possible or easy?

Great question glad you asked, Vue offers components which can maintain their own state, and are typically separated into their own files. Components can be part of the main instance and registered globally or created in their own file, imported and registered locally where it will be used or globally. I don’t want to get into components too deep, but a few pointers with components are, they can manage their own state, communicate with other components, receive messages from other components, and split up the application functionality into multiple files, which is always advantageous as it makes the programming much easier.

Ever heard of something called abstraction it’s a very powerful tool we use every day and I can prove this, whenever we drive a car, do we thinking about every piece of metal that was used to create this car, No. If we did we would never get around to driving the car, we would be overwhelmed. Similarly, Vue components make it easy to abstract functionality of your web application into easier more digestible pieces.

To summarise Vue.js is a better code for quick development of cross platform solutions and is great for someone who wants to use a rock solid basis for a high-end single page application, and factors speed over more features.

To learn more visit: https://vuejs.org/v2/guide/comparison.html

Damn, that was a lot, however, I promise reading the rest will be worth it to make an educative decision on what which framework to learn, to follow your passion in web applications.

React.js is it not considered a JavaScript framework, however by far the most popular JavaScript library with over 1000+ contributors on GitHub. Why does 1000+ GitHub contributors matter, because they are the people that actively test and create new features, the more the number the quacking react grows.

React used something called a virtual Dom, which makes user experience and developers work better. You must be wondering what makes the virtual Dom react uses any good, firstly we must dive into the problem of the real DOM. Every Website has a DOM, all the data stored on that page is stored within the DOM, the problem is whenever we want to change something within the dom, it becomes slow, so react detects data changes within its virtual dom and only when a change is detected will it pass on the changes to the main DOM. The virtual DOM acts as a buffer between the real DOM.

React has components, this is very like Vue where components can manage their own states. We can even use components made by other people, since components are isolated, they can be used as a copy and paste thing. Components make life really easy for the developer as they permit code to be split into two different files, but still, be used under one single page application.

React offers one direction data flow, ReactJS allows for direct work with components and uses downward data binding to ensure that changes of child structures don’t affect their parents. That makes code stable.

To learn more visit: https://www.altexsoft.com/blog/engineering/the-good-and-the-bad-of-reactjs-and-react-native/

Thanks for reading hope you enjoyed my post (: