Top Frontend JavaScript Frameworks Developers Must Learn in 2024

React was created and is maintained by Facebook. It has quickly become one of the most widely used front-end frameworks.

React is not a full-fledged framework but rather a JavaScript library for building user interfaces. It focuses solely on the view layer. React handles how data is displayed in the UI and leaves data management to other libraries.

Here are some of the key features of

React:

Virtual DOM: React uses a virtual DOM to optimize performance. It compares changes between component states and only updates what needs to be changed in the real DOM. This minimizes expensive DOM operations.

Reusable components: React promotes composing complex UIs from small, reusable components. These components manage their own states and can be combined to build complex apps.

Unidirectional data flow: Data in React apps follows a one-way top-down flow, which makes the app more predictable and easier to debug.

JSX syntax: JSX allows embedding HTML directly within JavaScript code. This results in UI code that is more readable and maintainable.

Popular sites built with React:

• Facebook
• Netflix
• UberEats
• Airbnb
• Reddit

React has become a top choice for building interactive UIs thanks to its above features. The virtual DOM provides a major performance boost compared to manipulating the real DOM directly. And React’s component architecture mirrors how UIs naturally break down into nested, reusable pieces.

For these reasons, React has been widely adopted by developers. In Stack Overflow’s 2022 survey, React was ranked as the most popular framework or library among respondents for the seventh year running. On GitHub, React has over 190,000 stars and is depended on by over 2.8 million repositories, showing its immense popularity.

With over 130,000 custom components available, React also has the largest ecosystem of third-party libraries. This makes it easy to quickly build React apps by leveraging pre-built components for everything from form inputs to data visualization.

However, as a library focused solely on the view layer, React does require additional tools to handle routing, state management, API calls, etc. Popular companion libraries used with React include React Router for routing, Redux or MobX for state management, and Axios for API requests.

So React is a great choice when you need to build a complex, interactive UI with high performance. Its component model and thriving ecosystem allow for rapid development. Just be prepared to leverage additional libraries to handle other aspects of your app besides the view layer.

Vue has emerged as a popular alternative to frameworks like React and Angular. It aims to be simpler to learn and integrate than other frameworks.

Vue is a progressive JavaScript framework for building user interfaces. Here are some standout features of Vue:

• Virtual DOM: Like React, Vue uses a virtual DOM to optimize updates and minimize DOM operations.
• Template syntax: Vue uses HTML-based templates to bind rendered DOM to underlying component data.
• Reactive data binding: Vue seamlessly handles data updates in the DOM when component data changes.
• Component-based: Vue apps are built from reusable, encapsulated components that manage their own state.
• Lightweight: The core library focuses purely on the view layer and is very lightweight at just 18KB minified.

Popular sites built with Vue:

• Alibaba
• GitLab
• Grammarly
• Adobe
• Nintendo

Vue shot up in popularity as a lightweight alternative to heavier frameworks like Angular. Its template-based syntax and reactivity system make it easy to get started with for beginners. And Vue’s emphasis on plain JavaScript makes it simple to incrementally integrate into projects without complex tooling.

Vue also provides capabilities like routing, state management, and AJAX handling out of the box in its core library. This makes it a bit more opinionated than React, but it also means you don’t need additional libraries to build complete apps.

For medium-sized projects that don’t require the complexity of something like Angular, Vue hits a nice sweet spot. It receives new features and improvements regularly and has good documentation.

Vue’s community is smaller than React’s, but it’s very active and growing quickly. There are over 170,000 repositories using Vue on GitHub. While the ecosystem is smaller, most common needs like UI component libraries, dev tools, and helper plugins are already well served by Vue’s available packages.

So Vue is great for developers who want a fairly simple but versatile framework with great documentation and approachability. While it can scale to large apps, Vue really shines for projects like lighter web apps, websites, and simpler interactive interfaces.

Angular is a TypeScript-based framework built and maintained by Google. It implements core web app features like routing, state management, and more out of the box.

Here are some notable features of Angular:

• MVC architecture: Angular cleanly separates UI logic from business logic using the model-view-controller pattern.
• Two-way data binding: Angular synchronizes data between models and views in real-time. Views update instantly when data models change.
• Component-based: Angular apps are composed of reusable components with encapsulated functionality.
• Dependency injection: Angular has built-in dependency injection, removing the need to manually instantiate dependencies.
• Tooling and testing: Angular has excellent built-in tooling for developing and testing apps.

Popular sites built with Angular:

• Forbes
• Lego
• UPS
• BMW
• General Motors

Angular is a full-featured, cross-platform framework developed and backed by Google. It can be used to build web, mobile, and desktop apps.

Angular focuses on making common web app development tasks, like handling routing and displaying data, easier out of the box. Its in-depth tooling for development, testing, and deployment is also a major benefit.

However, Angular has a steeper learning curve than lighter frameworks like React and Vue. Understanding TypeScript, the anatomy of Angular components, dependency injection, and how data flows work can take time for beginners.

Angular also tends to favor very explicit—almost rigid—ways of structuring apps. Developers have less freedom compared to more flexible frameworks.

But benefits like superb tooling, the ability to scale to enterprise-level apps, and robust ecosystem support make Angular a top choice for large web app projects from experienced teams. Over 18% of developers on Stack Overflow reported using Angular in 2022

So consider Angular if your web project calls for extensive, reusable components, complex data flows and interactions, high stability, and strong typing. The initial learning curve investment pays off for unwieldy apps.

Ember is a full-featured, component-based framework that aims to maximize developer productivity. It has extensive conventions to eliminate decision fatigue.

Here are some of Ember’s notable features:

• Routing: Ember has a built-in router that handles routing in the app and generates URLs.
• Full-stack: Ember provides everything needed to build web apps, including models and data, views, controllers, templates, and routing.
• Convention over configuration: Ember utilizes conventions like naming schemes to reduce repetitive coding.
• Large ecosystem: Ember has a vast ecosystem of add-ons and libraries for additional functionality.
• Highly opinionated: Ember enforces an opinionated way of structuring apps to reduce decision points.

Popular sites built with Ember:

• Apple Music
• Twitch
• Chipotle
• Yahoo!
• Netflix

Ember is a framework aimed at eliminating developer fatigue caused by repetitive decisions. It provides conventions, defaults, and structured code organization so developers can focus on building features instead of reinventing the wheel.

Ember’s highly opinionated approach means apps adhere to similar patterns, and experienced Ember developers can easily jump between projects. However, it also reduces flexibility compared to unopinionated frameworks.

Out of all the major frameworks, Ember’s router is best suited for handling complex client-side applications with multiple views and routes. And Ember’s huge ecosystem of addons makes it easy to add functionality like authentication and payment handling.

However, Ember’s complexity and learning curve are higher than those of competitors. Getting comfortable with Ember conventions and its large API surface requires a significant upfront investment. Ember is likely overkill for smaller projects that don’t need advanced routing and state management capabilities.

So consider Ember if your web app needs multi-screen workflows, complex routing between views, and heavy data manipulation. Ember shines for highly interactive web apps like retail sites and productivity tools.

Svelte is one of the newer JavaScript frameworks, but it has quickly gained popularity for its unique approach.

Unlike traditional frameworks, Svelte is a compiler that converts components into highly optimized vanilla JavaScript during the build process.

Here are some features that make Svelte stand out:

• Compile-time rendering: Svelte converts UI components into plain JS at compile time, resulting in better performance.
• Reactivity: State changes are tracked, and DOM updates are handled automatically behind the scenes.
• Tiny size: Svelte has no overhead at runtime since all the framework code runs at compile time.
• Simplified syntax: Svelte’s syntax is easy to pick up since it looks like normal HTML and JavaScript.
• Code-splitting: Svelte apps can be packaged with code-splitting right out of the box.

Popular sites built with Svelte:

• New York Times
• Rakuten
• Philips
• Godaddy
• Razorpay

As a compiler, Svelte works quite differently than traditional JavaScript frameworks. Instead of interpreting code at runtime, it compiles source code into lean, efficient JavaScript during the build process.

This leads to smaller bundle sizes and excellent performance, with minimal overhead or bloat from a framework runtime.

Svelte also simplifies reactive programming. Features like declarative bindings and immutable state management Just work under the hood without needing to use complex patterns like the observer pattern.

And Svelte’s syntax for building components removes a lot of boilerplate compared to JSX, using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript inline. This lowers the barrier to picking it up.

However, being newer than competitors, Svelte’s ecosystem is still growing. There are fewer third-party components and tools available compared to React and Vue.

Svelte is a great pick for apps where performance and bundle size matter. It does away with a lot of unnecessary abstraction compared to traditional options. Scenarios like web apps with multiple interactive pages benefit greatly from Svelte’s lean approach.

Backbone provides a lightweight JavaScript library for structuring front-end code in a simplified MVC pattern.

Here are some key aspects of the backbone:

• Models: Backbone models manage application data and business logic.
• Views: Views are used to dynamically render data from models and handle UI events.
• Collections: Collections handle and synchronize groups of models on the client.
• Events: Backbone has an event system that models, views, and collections can bind to.
• Sync: Backbone can synchronize data in JSON format with REST APIs.
• Lightweight: The backbone weighs in at just 6kb.

Popular sites built with Backbone:

• Pinterest
• Uber
• Soundcloud
• Foursquare
• Reddit

Backbone rose in popularity as a lightweight alternative to bulkier frameworks of its time, like AngularJS. It provides structure for web apps without being overly prescriptive.

Being a small library, Backbone focuses purely on front-end logic and leaves aspects like templating and DOM manipulation up to the developer. This allows it to work with different stack combinations.

The backbone promotes loose coupling by encouraging discrete components that interact via events. Models and views can be synchronized while remaining decoupled.

However, Backbone apps require more boilerplate code for templating and manually handling events compared to fuller-featured frameworks. There is also less out-of-the-box support for complex workflows like routing and state management.

So Backbone is a good choice when you want a simple library for synchronizing front-end data and UI components without heavy prescriptions. It shines when used with other libraries to handle templating, DOM updates, and API calls.

Meteor is a full-stack JavaScript framework for rapidly building web and mobile apps in pure JavaScript.

Here are some of Meteor’s notable features:

• Full-stack: Meteor handles all layers of the stack—client, server, database integrations, mobile apps, etc.
• Reactive data: Meteor syncs data instantly across clients, so UI layers update reactively.
• Live page updates: Pages are updated live as database changes occur without needing refreshes.
• Simplified security model: Methods can be assigned security permissions declaratively.
• Mobile apps: iOS and Android apps can be built using the same Meteor code.

Popular sites built with Meteor:

• Mazda
• Honeywell
• IKEA
• Qualcomm
• Moz

Meteor is opinionated and provides an end-to-end solution for the entire web app stack. This allows rapid prototyping and iteration without needing to integrate multiple platforms.

The key benefit of Meteor is the instant synchronization of client and server data. Updates display reactively without needing to write complex data-syncing logic.

Meteor is based on Node.js and MongoDB, so it works well for real-time apps with dynamic data flow. The integrated security model also makes access control and permissions easier.

However, Meteor is monolithic compared to modular libraries like React. This can make it harder to integrate with external libraries and systems.

Meteor’s sweet spot is rapidly building real-time web apps. The integrated full-stack platform and reactive data flow make it ideal for apps like instant messaging and collaborative editing tools.

Aurelia distinguishes itself by focusing on framework modularity. Developers can choose and use only the parts they need.

Notable features of Aurelia include:

• Unopinionated: Aurelia handles just the view and leaves other implementation details up to developers.
• Modular structure: Apps are built by composing small modules together. Unused modules don’t get bundled.
• Simple syntax: Aurelia uses clean, readable syntax like HTML and ECMAScript 2016.
• Change notification: Aurelia observes models and re-renders views intelligently when data changes.
• Web components: Aurelia apps can be encapsulated and distributed as standard custom elements.

Popular sites built with Aurelia:

• Hometown
• ClearObject
• HeadRush
• Fire Hyde
• BlazePod

Aurelia provides only the core view rendering functionality, with no other prescriptions. This makes it adaptable to different project needs and tech stacks.

Developers can cherry pick from Aurelia’s wide selection of plugins for features like routing, state management, and data access. Avoiding bundle bloat from unused modules.

The minimal syntax makes Aurelia easy to learn for anyone familiar with HTML and modern JavaScript. There is no complex tooling or abstraction like in virtual DOM diffs.

However, the unopinionated nature of Aurelia means more decisions are left to developers compared to prescribed frameworks like Angular. There is also a smaller surrounding ecosystem since Aurelia is less mainstream currently.

So Aurelia offers a nice, lightweight canvas to structure front-end code without unnecessary complexity. It works well for experienced teams needing a view layer without restraints.

Polymer provides a library of prebuilt web components that developers can reuse when building apps.

Here are some polymer features:

• Web components: Apps are built using modular, encapsulated custom elements.
• Reusable components: Polymer provides pre-made, customizable UI elements that developers can easily reuse.
• Declarative: Polymer uses a declarative HTML-based syntax for constructing app components
• Declarative: Polymer uses a declarative HTML-based syntax for constructing app components
• Interoperability: Polymer elements work across frameworks and runtimes that support web components.
• Lightweight: Polymer apps stay lightweight and minimize payload size using features like tree shaking.

Popular sites built with polymer:

• Netflix
• Electronic Arts
• UPS
• McDonald’s
• ING

Polymer focuses on letting developers build with web components—custom HTML elements with encapsulated functionality. This aligns with emerging web standards.

Polymer makes it easier to leverage web components. It provides a lightweight library for defining and reusing custom elements.

Developers can incorporate Polymer elements into apps built with any framework, like React or Vue. The elements also work with plain JavaScript.

Polymer includes an element catalog with pre-made UI components for fast development by reusing elements. Browser support for web components is still growing, so Polymer helps patch compatibility gaps currently.

Polymer suits apps that benefit from a standardized component library. Teams can build and share custom elements that can be reused across projects. The elements also remain decoupled from specific frameworks.

Hyperapp is an insanely small JavaScript framework for building web apps. It provides basic, essential features while staying under 1 kB.

Here are Hyperapp’s features:

• Tiny size: The entire Hyperapp bundle is under 1 kB minified and gzipped.
• Functional style: Hyperapp utilizes functional programming concepts like stateless views and immutable data.
• Minimal API: Hyperapp keeps its API intentionally small, with just 10 methods total.
• Virtual DOM: updates views by minimizing DOM manipulation for better performance.
• Isomorphic apps: Hyperapp can render UI on the server and client.

Popular sites built with Hyperapp:

• Laravel News
• NHL
• NHL
• Mr Spinner
• Manta Sleep
• Land Lines

JavaScript frameworks like React, Vue, Angular, and others provide immense value to front-end developers. They allow building complex web apps efficiently by providing structure, reusable code, tools, and ecosystem support.

Each framework has its own strengths and use cases it’s best suited for. When choosing a framework, consider your app’s requirements, the developer team’s experience, framework maturity, and community support.

The JavaScript framework landscape will likely continue evolving rapidly. But the ones highlighted here are shaping up to remain developer favorites throughout 2024 and beyond. They provide powerful capabilities for even the most complex front-end projects.

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