The Benefits of Different JavaScript Frameworks
It has been over 25 years since JavaScript was first introduced into our web browsers. Since then, this technology has vastly changed how we interact with websites and applications, how we build APIs for backend systems, and even how we communicate with hardware platforms. JavaScript has become one of the most popular programming languages on the planet. To this day, JavaScript’s pace of evolution and rapid change is a popular topic of conversation among developers – it is a source of excitement and innovation. As a programming language, JavaScript has been ranked as the most popular among developers in the last 10 consecutive years and has been the key to client-side scripting for 98% of all websites. We cannot underestimate how much JavaScript and its closely related ECMAScript standardization have enabled the web to become the platform to host the next generation of software that can be accessed by billions of people. With these technologies, millions of businesses and individuals can easily build great applications, creative experiences, and complex software solutions. In many ways, the web platform has the potential to be the most vibrant and friendly developer ecosystem in the whole world.
JavaScript frameworks are the straightforward way millions of web developers build projects today. Due to their popularity and ease of use, frameworks allow developers to quickly make product ideas come to life without unnecessary overheads. Without the framework systems that we have at our disposal today, the web would not have been able to compete with other development platforms.
In this book, we will study the vast ecosystem and expand our knowledge to become confident in creating and maintaining our own self-developed frameworks. Developing the skill to build a framework or extend existing ones comes with the benefit of becoming an impactful domain expert in frontend and backend projects.
As part of becoming experts in JavaScript frameworks, we need to get a sense of the core components and tools of the web development workflow. In this first chapter of the book, we will take a look at how web development evolved, how frameworks changed the landscape of working with JavaScript, and what the ecosystem currently has to offer.
We will cover the following topics:
- The emergence of JavaScript frameworks
- The evolution of code bases
- Types of frameworks in JavaScript and their benefits
- My experiences with frameworks
