These popular JavaScript libraries and frameworks are useful tools that any frontend web designer should be familiar with. They add powerful functionality to your website, help you create the current web design trends and lead to extraordinary experiences for your users. Check out our blog about JavaScript frameworks to understand how different libraries are combined to create magical web pages.
In this article I will introduce some of the most used JavaScript frameworks and libraries. As a web developer, you should be familiar with these libraries and know how to use them for your next project.
What makes JavaScript great?
JavaScript is a powerful programming language, increasingly so with later version, and is widely popular for building web apps.
With isomorphic JavaScript code, developers do not need to run separate code on the server and client. As a result, you will find many JavaScript libraries and frameworks that serve various purposes. In this article we have compiled a total of 40 JavaScript libraries / frameworks with their functions, advantages and use cases.
The typical JavaScript tech stack combination of tools, including frameworks, that enable developers to develop digital products, including everything from back-to-front-end dev to UX design.
What are JavaScript libraries?
JavaScript libraries contain various functions, methods and objects that perform practical tasks in web pages and JS-based applications. As a JavaScript developer you should already have a good idea what JavaScript libraries are popular and useful, and know how to use them effectively.
As a new developer, it can be a bit much deciding on which libraries to use. Whether you are developing a front-end or backend application in JavaScript, you may feel the need for some popular utility libraries.
What is a framework?
If you have a tight deadline to complete a project, you can save time by using a framework to build the core of your website. A framework consists of several libraries, and it provides hooks and callbacks so you can build on them.
React
If we start the list with React it is the first front-end library in terms of important factors such as developer satisfaction, interest, use, stability and popularity. React is a component-based library that allows you to create reusable elements and components for your website. With React, released in 2013, you can enable features such as static website creation and server-side rendering.
Vue
The advantage of using Vue is that you can write a small amount of code compared to other libraries. Similar to React, Vue is another frontend framework that can be used to build pages and applications using the popular component – architecture.
JQuery
JQuery is a fast and clear library for JavaScript, which was developed in 2006 by John Resig.
NodeJS
Node JS is a powerful JavaScript framework that allows you to build server components with JavaScript. This open source, full-stack, free JavaScript framework, written with NodeJS, is fast for developing small reactive applications on the NodeJS platform. It can be used as a frontend for JavaScript running in the browser, and as a backend it is a server for NodeJS.
Polymer JS
Polymer JS was developed by Google and is a library that allows developers to create interactive applications by bundling reusable HTML, JS, and CSS code together. You can install the library via your terminal with Bower or NPM. Getting started with Polymer.js from Pluaralsight is a good way to start learning.
Angular
We will look at Angular, which is more of a framework than a library. It includes all you need to build a front end app in a structured way. It ships with functionality that with other solutions like React, you’d be relying on third-party libraries and tools.
Angular is a fantastic framework to build applications with, and is quite beginner friendly. Angular and Polymer can compare as they are both built by Google and Angular is the complete framework for web application development, while Polymer is a library for web component design. Angular supports one-way and two-way data binding to create extensive applications.
Express
Express is a simple web server for JS apps, and simplifies the normal HTTP functionality of Node.js. One example of its use is in the dating site https://slsswingers.vip, where they’ve implemented their backend code with JavaScript.
Next.js
Next.js is an open source web framework that enables developers to develop server-based jamstack applications that integrate best web development practices with Next. It is a React Framework for the development of one-sided and multi-sided JavaScript applications and websites. The open source platform Next.js offers React, a frontend framework for web development.
Underscore
Underscore is a JavaScript utility library providing a huge number of simple functions to keep coding faster and simpler. The underscores are similar to common utility libraries and are functional programming designed for objects, prototypes and extensions.
Backbone.js
Backbone.js is a lightweight JavaScript library that allows client-side applications to run in a web browser without developed structure.