Today’s web developers face two major struggles: automating web development that would otherwise be tedious and time-consuming to do manually, and ensuring that web apps are high-performing yet lightweight.

To streamline the development process, popular JavaScript frameworks such as AngularJS, React and Vue.js provides developers with pre-written code libraries that provide pre-built functionality for common tasks such as DOM manipulation, event handling, and data binding. By utilizing these frameworks, developers are able to create dynamic, interactive web applications. This is why JavaScript is the most popular programming language worldwide.

Over 97% of websites are using JavaScript in one way or another through its popular JS frameworks. It does justify a famous quote which says:

“Programs must be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute.”
― Harold Abelson, Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs

1. Usage of JavaScript for Website

(Source: https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/cp-javascript)

2. JavaScript Market Position

(Source: https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/cp-javascript)

3. The Top 10 JavaScript Frameworks

The top 10 most popular JavaScript frameworks of 2023 are widely used in the industry and have a proven track record of delivering large-scale applications. They boast a large and active community, presenting developers with a wealth of resources, such as tutorials, documentation, and third-party libraries. As such, these frameworks are considered to be the best for creating full-fledged applications. As of 2023, some of the most popular JS frameworks include:

3.1. React

React, a powerful JavaScript library is ideal for building user interfaces. Developed by Facebook, it is now maintained by a vast open-source community. React’s flexibility enables developers to create complex user interfaces by breaking them down into manageable and reusable components. This makes it easy to update and maintain the interface over time.

Salient Features: 

• Ability to handle dynamic data through its virtual DOM, a lightweight version of the actual DOM (Document Object Model). This allows React to efficiently update the interface when underlying data changes.
• React has a feature called “JSX” which allows developers to write HTML-like elements in JavaScript, making the code more readable and easier to comprehend, particularly for developers that are familiar with HTML.
• React is widely used in industry and has a large and active community. With its robust library of features, React is an invaluable tool for developers and businesses alike.
• React can be used with other libraries and frameworks, such as React Router for client-side routing and Redux for state management.
• React uses a one-way data flow, where data is passed down from parent components to child components, ensuring the application is more predictable and easier to debug.
• React can be rendered on the server side, which can improve the performance and SEO of the application.
• A reusable component is the core concept in react, which allows the component to be used multiple times in the same application with different props.

3.2. Angular

Angular, a framework of JavaScript developed and maintained by Google, is specifically built to create web applications. It provides a comprehensive suite of features and tools for constructing web applications.

Salient Features:

• Uses a component-based architecture allowing developers to build complex user interfaces by breaking them down into small, reusable components. Each component can manage its state and properties, which makes it easy to update and maintain the interface over time.
• Utilizes “TypeScript” which is a typed superset of JavaScript to enable developers to catch errors early and write more manageable code.
• Offers a set of built-in directives, pipes, and services for additional functionality and flexibility of the framework.
• Has a powerful template system that allows developers to declaratively describe the structure of the user interface and is used to create dynamic and interactive user interfaces.
• Provides tools for testing, such as Karma and Protractor, which can be used to automate the testing of an application.
• Has a large and active community, and there are many resources available, including tutorials, documentation, and third-party libraries.
• Consider it as a top framework for building large-scale web applications allowing for a consistent development experience.

3.3. Vue

Vue.js, an open-source framework within JavaScript, was created by Evan You in 2014 and has since become an increasingly popular alternative to other JavaScript frameworks, such as Angular and React. This professional-grade framework boasts an array of features that make it a great choice for web development. Its ease of use and scalability make it a great choice for developers of all experience levels.

Salient Features:

• Uses a reactivity system that allows it to automatically update the view when the underlying data changes.
• Offers developers a powerful set of resources to create reusable and composable UI components, and leverages HTML-based templates to define the structure of a component’s view.
• Built-in directives, such as v-if and v-for, allow developers to manipulate the DOM and add dynamic behavior to their templates.
• With the use of computed properties, developers can create properties that are automatically updated based on the values of other properties.
• Developers can also utilize watchers, which are functions that are executed when a specific property changes.
  Offers a powerful routing library, Vue-router, that simplifies the process of navigating between different views while maintaining the application’s state.
• Deploys an official state management library, Vuex, to handle state management in large-scale applications
• Offers official support for server-side rendering, which can improve the performance and SEO of an application
• Has a small size and easy-to-learn syntax, making it a good choice for small to medium-sized projects and developers who are new to JavaScript frameworks.

3.4. Ember

Ember.js is an open-source JavaScript framework for building web applications. It is based on the Model-View-View-Model (MVVM) pattern and emphasizes convention over configuration. Ember was initially released in 2011, and it has a large and active community of developers.

Salient Features: 

• Provides developers with a set of conventions that allow them to quickly and easily build web applications without making countless decisions about code structure.
• Allows developers to create reusable UI components that can be easily composed to create complex user interfaces.
  Provides a command line interface (CLI) that makes it easy to create, manage, and test Ember applications.
• Delivers a built-in data library that makes it easy to interact with APIs and manage application state.
• Helps with a powerful routing system that allows developers to easily navigate between different views and maintain the application’s state.
• Offering a browser extension that allows developers to easily inspect and debug Ember applications.
• Deploys a way to build reusable application modules called engines, which can be composed and shared between applications.
• Has a rich ecosystem of addons, which are packages that provide additional functionality and can be easily installed and managed with Ember CLI.
• Has a community-driven website EmberObserver, which allows developers to discover, rate, and review Ember addons.

3.5. Svelte

Svelte is a professional-grade, lightweight, and fast JavaScript framework for building web applications. Developed by Rich Harris in 2016, it has rapidly gained traction as an alternative to other popular JavaScript frameworks, such as React and Angular. With its streamlined design philosophy, Svelte enables developers to create high-performance applications with minimal effort.

Salient Features:

• It has a “compile-time” framework, which means that it converts components into efficient JavaScript at build time, rather than relying on a virtual DOM at runtime.
• Has a small size and minimal runtime, which allows for faster load times and improved performance.
• Supports two-way data binding, allowing changes in the model to automatically update the view and vice versa.
• Allows developers to create reusable UI components.
• Provides a simple way to create smooth transitions between states, allowing developers to create animations and other effects.
• Allows developers to define styles scoped to a specific component, which prevents style pollution and makes it easier to manage styles.
• Provides official support for server-side rendering, which can improve the performance and SEO of an application
• Syntax is minimal and easy to understand, making it a good choice for developers new to JavaScript frameworks.
• Does not use a virtual DOM, this allows for faster updates and less memory usage.

3.6. Next

Next.js is a powerful framework developed by Zeit, built on top of Node.js and React.js, designed to render React applications on the server side. It allows developers to easily build and deploy React applications with features like automatic code splitting, server-side rendering, and static site generation.

Salient Features:

• Allows developers to easily build server-rendered React applications, which can improve the performance and SEO of an application.
• Code is automatically broken into tiny pieces, which in turn help an application to load rapidly.
• Allows developers to easily build static sites, which can be deployed on a CDN and are easily scalable.
• Offers an intuitive routing system for defining multiple routes with seamless page navigation for convenient handling.
• The hot reloading feature helps a great deal in viewing content on browsers without any actual need to refresh.
• Provides developers with the advantage of conveniently testing their applications while running with the help of its in-built development server.
• Provides developers with built-in support for advanced technologies like Babel and Webpack – giving them access to the latest JS features that are easy to configure.

3.7. Gatsby

Gatsby is a free and open-source framework for building progressive web applications (PWAs) using React. It is built on top of React and GraphQL, and it allows developers to easily create fast, responsive, and dynamic web applications.

Salient Features:

• Allows developers to generate static sites, which can be easily deployed to a CDN and are easily scalable.
• Has built-in performance optimization features such as code splitting, image optimization, and lazy loading, which can improve the load time of an application.
• Has built-in support for progressive web apps, which allows developers to create web applications that work offline, can be installed on a user’s device, and have app-like functionality.
• Allows developers to use the same framework for both client-side and server-side rendering.
• Built-in support for GraphQL, which allows developers to easily query and manage data from different sources.
• Large and growing ecosystem of plugins, which allows developers to easily add new features and functionality to their applications.
• Optimizes static assets such as images, fonts, and styles to improve the performance of the application.
• Provides an easy-to-use routing system that allows developers to define routes and handle navigation between pages.
• Built-in support for Webpack and Babel, which allows developers to use the latest JavaScript features and easily configure their applications.
• Easy deployment options, including support for popular hosting platforms such as AWS, Netlify, and more.

3.8. Nuxt

Nuxt.js is a powerful JavaScript framework designed to render Vue.js applications on the server side. Built on top of Vue.js, Webpack, and Babel, Nuxt.js provides developers with an easy way to create fast, responsive, and dynamic web applications.

Salient Features:

• Easily build server-rendered Vue.js applications, which can improve performance, SEO, and user experience.
• Automatically split code into smaller chunks, which can reduce load time and improve user experience.
• Offers developers an easy-to-use routing system for defining routes and handling navigation between pages.
• Full compatibility with Vue.js, allowing developers to use the same framework for both client-side and server-side rendering.
• Allows developers to define layouts and middleware, making it easy to maintain a consistent design and behavior across the application.
• Supports hot reloading, so developers can see changes in real time without having to refresh the page.
• Comes with a built-in development server that allows developers to easily run and test their applications.
• Includes built-in support for Webpack and Babel, allowing developers to use the latest JavaScript features and easily configure their applications.
• There is a growing ecosystem of plugins available, which makes it easy to add new features and functionality to applications.
• Provides easy deployment options, including support for popular hosting platforms such as Heroku, Now, and more.

3.9. Nest

Nest.js is a free and open-source framework for building server-side applications using JavaScript and TypeScript. It is built on top of Node.js and Express.js and is heavily inspired by Angular.

Salient Features:

• Provides a modular architecture, which allows developers to easily organize and manage their code.
• Built-in support for TypeScript which allows developers to take advantage of the latest features of the language and improve the maintainability of their code.
• Uses decorators, which are a way to add metadata to your code, to make it more readable and maintainable.
• Provides a way to handle input validation and error handling using pipes and guards.
• Built-in support for testing, which allows developers to easily test their code.
• Provides support for WebSockets, which allows developers to easily add real-time functionality to their applications.
• Helps a way to build microservices, which are small, independently deployable services that can communicate with each other.
• Flexible enough to use any other libraries and frameworks and can be easily scaled to handle a large number.

3.10. Express

Express.js is a free and open-source framework for building web applications using JavaScript and Node.js. It is a minimal and flexible web application framework that provides a set of features for web and mobile applications.

Salient Features: 

• Developers can easily handle routing, which is the process of determining how an application should respond to a client request to a specific endpoint, such as a web page or an API.
• Allows developers to use middleware, which are functions that can process the HTTP request and response objects before they are handled by the route handlers.
• Allows developers to use templates, which are pre-written chunks of code that can be rendered with data to generate HTML, JSON, or XML.
• Provides a way to handle errors, which allows developers to handle unexpected situations predictably and consistently.
• Supports multiple template engines, including EJS, Jade, and Handlebars, which allows developers to choose the best one for their application.
• Easily serve static files, such as images, CSS, and JavaScript, which can be cached by the browser for faster loading.
• Built-in support for WebSockets, which allows developers to easily add real-time functionality to their applications.

4. Conclusion

So, we saw ideal and popular JavaScript frameworks preferred by developers. The reasons why they are chosen by developers from a business perspective are:

• They provide pre-written, tested, and optimized code that can be reused, saving development time and resources.
• They provide a consistent structure and set of conventions for building an application, making it easier to maintain and update code over time.
• They are designed to work across different web browsers and devices, ensuring the application is accessed by a wide range of users.
• They have communities of developers to contribute and support, making it easier for businesses to find solutions to problems or hire developers with relevant skills.
• They provide scalable solutions that grow and adapt as the needs of business change.
• They provide features such as data binding, client-side rendering, and responsive design, improving user experience and making applications interactive and engaging.

To sum up, popular JS frameworks help businesses to develop robust, efficient, and user-friendly web applications in today’s ever-growing digital market. Additionally, newer technologies such as WebAssembly, Web Components, and Progressive Web Apps are expected to gain traction in the coming years, so it is important to keep those in mind when making decisions about which JavaScript framework to use.