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By using frameworks, developers are relieved of the responsibility of constantly rewriting code and reinventing the wheel. Effective and efficient deployment of a project can be made possible by using a framework.
A framework is not necessary for every project. Your software engineers use a multitude of programming languages. Does JavaScript fall into this category? Of course, it does.
Modern front-end web development often relies on JavaScript frameworks. A number of frameworks exist that allow your developers to develop scalable, dynamic web-based applications that can be used both inside and outside of your organization - or even by your clients, customers, and consumers. Frameworks like Vue.js, Angular, Svelte, Express.js, Bootstrap, and Django provide quite a number of choices for developers.
We are working on web applications and websites that are overweight as 2020 begins. Svelte, Polymer, Angular, React, Vue.js, and React can all be used. There are too many to name here.
This is also what I am doing with this article as well. Feel free to make your own judgment. JavaScript fatigue has become a problem for me.
Truthfully, let's face it. With a single command, you can start a website or web application from scratch. Our Angular project names are ng new projects, and our React project names are ..., etc.
We choose what suits us best most of the time. Our JavaScript weight needs to be further reduced and we need to be more careful about what we load into our application.
You might be able to get by with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
I also mean the JavaScript library when I refer to the JavaScript framework. Svelte, Angular, React, and Vue.js are all on this list for me. Of course, there are others.
There are pros and cons to using a JavaScript framework. There are good and bad things about it. It’s more about one doing better in one situation than another.
I work with Angular in my day job and enjoy trying out React or Vue.js. I also enjoy exploring small JavaScript libraries that do one thing very well.
Let's enter the framework
Many apps suffer from predictable bottlenecks and strains in the front end. That is why there are front-end frameworks. Despite their distinct design approaches, most popular frameworks seek to address the same problems:
Maintainable code is easy to read, test, and change for both you and others.
Interfaces with complex components are usually composed of the same components. Creating new pages should be simple since these components can be customized and reused.
It is best to update DOM elements as few times as possible since DOM manipulations are slow.
It should be easy for you to manipulate your user interface according to data.
Consistency and intuitiveness should be part of your UI, so standardize your font, color, buttons, and inputs.
Solving these common front-end challenges shouldn't require writing tons of boilerplate.
With other developers, you should be able to communicate your ideas and patterns in a common language.
In some situations, I would suggest using a JavaScript micro-library, rather than a JavaScript framework.
There is nothing complicated or complicated about your application. You may be developing a small project, such as exploring a new JavaScript API.
Performance-driven. Even on a low-bandwidth connection, you need very high performance from your application.
Across the line, every byte counts. Using a large framework is not wise. JavaScript frameworks are expensive due to their overhead.
You can manage this better with several tools. The best way to avoid problems is to prevent them in the first place.
There are many frameworks available (and many are open source, so you can use them free of charge). However, when is a JavaScript framework not necessary? Let us examine five reasons.
1. Keep It Simple If You Are Working On It
It is true that JavaScript frameworks are better suited to complex projects or applications with a high degree of complexity. In most cases, a framework is an overkill for something that is simply small and simple. You'd be better off without a framework if you're working on a smaller project.
By implementing everything you require from vanilla JavaScript, frameworks simplify your work and save you time. It may not be worth it to save time if you decide to learn the framework, or if you decide to add it in later.
Don't bother with a framework if the goal is to keep the project simple.
2. Using HTML and CSS Alone Is Enough
You'll be building web applications most of the time with a JavaScript framework. There are times when JavaScript is overkill and will slow down the performance of a website. While JavaScript can help make those applications more interactive, dynamic, and exciting, it can also sluggish the performance of those applications.
Consider this question: Can websites and web applications be constructed with HTML and CSS alone? If yes, then keep it simple. Adding a framework to that process might mess things up, but JavaScript might be necessary, and so would a more fundamental language. JavaScript is responsible for behavior, CSS is responsible for the appearance, and HTML is for structure.
A website's HTML and CSS components are often essential, while JavaScript makes it shine. JavaScript frameworks allow you to combine all those ingredients into a cake worthy of competition, but they can add a layer of complexity you may not need... especially if your aim is to create a simple cake.
3. Is JavaScript ES6 being used
Since the release of JavaScript ES6, frameworks are no longer as necessary as they once were. Modules and classes have been included in ES6 so most of the popular frameworks are now obsolete.
Essentially, frameworks abstract away some of the more difficult aspects of software development. New features in ES6 (including default parameters, template literals, multi-line strings, object literals, destructuring assignment, and arrow functions - as well as modules and classes) eliminate the need to consider frameworks for many use cases.
Although previous iterations were designed to support classes specifically, working with them was a major challenge.
By bringing these new features to JavaScript, they make frameworks a thing of the past, because they make it possible to offer certain functionalities that were previously not available. The majority of the features will be prepackaged within the language itself, rather than having to use third-party tools.
4. Do You Love Creative Freedom?
In general, you can use only one JavaScript framework and you're tied to its limitations when you use JavaScript frameworks. By not using a framework, you are able to design your website the way you want. Due to the fact that HTML, CSS, and JavaScript give you the ability to accomplish just about anything unless you're building at scale and don't care about creative freedom, you already have what you need and your creativity is limitless.
5. HTMX
HTMLX is the successor to intercooler.js (which expands an application's functionality using familiar HTML attributes). With this new library, you can access many of the features commonly found in modern browsers (such as AJAX, CSS Transitions, WebSockets, and Server-Sent Events) directly from HTML, rather than using JavaScript. In other words, developers can develop interfaces based on modern technologies without resorting to JavaScript - and, by extension, JavaScript frameworks.
This is an example of an HTMX website:
hx-trigger="click"
hx-target="#parent-div"
hx-swap="outerHTML">
Click Me!
Using this example, an HTTP POST request is sent to /clicked when a user clicks a button, and then the response is used to replace the parent-div element in the DOM with the clicked element.
6. You have a large application
JavaScript frameworks could be useful when building a large application. The community behind a framework is usually very supportive.
Typically, a community provides a lot of learning materials that help build applications for long-term support.
7. Your company or you value open source
Open source has the advantage that anyone can use it however they want (if the license permits it, of course).
People spend their free time working on it to create many of the elements of that framework. Developers and companies who use it don't have to pay anything for this.
The company/developer who contributes to a JavaScript framework can benefit other people as well.
8. Developing new features at a high speed
Having a lot of tools at the developer's disposal, most frameworks make building new features a lot faster. A lot of testing was done for developers by smart engineers.
In summary, adopting a front-end framework will benefit our rapidly growing app in the following ways:
Maintainability:
You can make quick changes to your app by breaking it up into reusable, standalone components.
Separation of concerns:
With a modern framework, you can build a modular architecture that's easy to maintain, and focus your front-end developers on what they do best: taking data and displaying it intuitively and efficiently.
Speed:
With boilerplate code addressing common issues, your app will be up and running quickly, and component-based design will make it easier for you to develop.
Collaboration:
Due to the fact that frameworks generally follow similar design patterns, developing and maintaining an app with a new codebase is easier.
Community:
A community of developers exists around the most popular frameworks, with tutorials, forums, and meetups focused on the frameworks.
Disadvantages
Front-end frameworks aren't always the right choice for every application, just as they aren't for every tool. Before implementing one, consider these factors.
Overhead code, abbreviated:
You can't fully understand framework code until you understand it thoroughly. There is a lot of code in this project that is not helpful to your application, and fixing bugs derived from code you don't understand can be frustrating.
Gradient:
It takes time to become proficient in using a framework. In order to be productive, it is essential to understand the syntax, tooling, and philosophy of a framework.
It is not always the best use of your time to learn brand new technology for projects where speed is essential.
Smaller projects are overkill:
You might not need the power and overhead of a framework if you are deploying a static site or a site where each component is unique. In order to be effective, a minimal framework or library may be necessary. We will discuss these in the next section.
Setup:
You need to dedicate time to setting up and customizing a framework for your specific situation. You should choose what you are familiar with or what your development team is comfortable with if speed is a priority.
A strong opinion:
The design principles in an opinionated framework may clash with yours, making it seem restrictive. Before implementing any framework, research it thoroughly. Instead of using a framework, build your own.
Evolution of ecosystems:
JavaScript framework ecosystems have a reputation for volatility. Developers and support may be hard to find with the shift in framework popularity.
Money is spent on time. Here's a concept I brought up earlier. Most people feel that if they stop using popular web frameworks, we'll move back to the internet of the 1990s, when *marquee> was everyone's favorite tag, rotating GIFs on Geocities were cool, Alta Vista was the default for searching the web, and hit counters were everywhere.
Implementing web frameworks initially seems to pay off in saving time, but after a while, you end up losing money. Then you spend the entire day reading about how to make the framework do things it isn't designed to do, how to integrate libraries into the framework and make them work together, only to find out that the code you wrote while following the framework's standards won't work at all and you have to rewrite it. If you don't have a framework, you make steady progress without starting slowly. At the end of the day, it all comes down to where you want the easy part to be. The time will be the same no matter which way you go.
The Great Wall of China will not be able to contain my code. When you write without a framework, it is like buying a film rather than signing up for a streaming service. There aren't hundreds of movies available right now, but you also won't have to buy thousands of other movies you'd never watch. It's as simple as writing what you need.
What is the purpose of the middleman? Absolutely. They usually aren't needed. As you don't have to adapt to a framework's requirements, every line of code you write has more meaning. In the case of pure JavaScript, it feels like you are writing more code because you need to create an element, attach it to the DOM, and perhaps add a class to style it, rather than calling up a single line of code in JSX. However, if you compare vanilla JS to code using jQuery or React, you can find that the lengths are similar. At times, it's longer, at other times, it's shorter.
The wheel doesn't need to be reinvented. It is the motto of all computer scientists. This statement is true, but it does not have to refer only to frameworks. Almost every web application, for example, requires you to send an Ajax request to load or save data, but you do not need to rewrite the code every time. A library or codebase can be created from scratch, or code can be taken from another source. The small size makes it easy to modify or adjust as needed, so you can use it for specific projects. A third-party library or framework might contain thousands of files. It is easier to modify 100-200 lines of code.
Only small projects will be able to use it. The above is a very common misconception, but it is not true at all. I am currently developing an entire system to enable companies to manage all aspects of their business online, including a Google Drive-like module. With or without frameworks, I experience very similar problems and go through very similar steps. There is very little difference. Nevertheless, my code is simpler and easier to manage without frameworks.
Speed and the integration of external data sources are two of the main reasons for using frameworks. You shouldn't use a framework if neither of those is a problem for your project; it will only stifle your creativity. Hire from one of the Best Vue JS Development Company.
JavaScript frameworks do serve a purpose and should not be completely ignored. However, if you are able to devote the time and inclination, you may find it immensely rewarding to construct directly in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code.
DC Kumawat is the CEO of Orion InfoSolutions, a leading provider of IT solutions to businesses of all sizes. He has over 14+ years of experience in the IT industry. He is a passionate advocate for the use of technology to improve business performance.