Best Web Frameworks for Site Development

The History Behind Angular, React, and Vue

With web development and the increasing demand for responsive design, programming frameworks have been developed that allow you to create web products much faster than writing a front-end in pure JavaScript.

Vue

Vue.js is an open-source progressive JavaScript framework that can be used as a library. It is easy to learn, unlike other frameworks.

This framework is primarily responsible for presentation, thereby allowing for easier interaction with other projects and libraries. Also, Vue.js is more suitable for small projects.

Strengths:

• speed;
• size;
• adherence to HTML, CSS standards;
• support of TS, JSX;
• low entry threshold.

The cons are the lack of a large community and the lack of structure. However, Vue.js's reputation has grown over time.

Angular

Angular is a cross-platform framework developed by Google. It sticks to a strict hierarchy and represents an extensive infrastructure for complex solutions.

Thanks to the TypeScript language that Angular uses, development becomes more convenient and easier to understand. When compiling, the code is translated into JavaScript, that is, TypeScript is used in the development stage.

Additional benefits of Angular include:

• available documentation;
• powerful development tools;
• community support;
• relevance;
• stability;
• a subset of the TypeScript

React

React is an open-source library of functions that is used to develop user interfaces. Note that this tool will be considered a full-fledged framework only with the connection of third-party JavaScript libraries.

Strengths of React:

• Facebook support;
• high speed of work;
• large community;
• cross-platform;
• UI development based on individual components;
• Virtual DOM technology.

How to Pick Web Development Frameworks?

After discovering the pros and cons of each framework, we’ve decided to break down the question of when and why would you need one of these frameworks.

Pick Angular when you need to create a complex project that will be scale later on. Also, you need to take a closer look at Angular if you need to improve the website performance and if you have a superb Angular developers team.

Pick Vue when your project is rather small and easy to use. When working with Vue, the developers should know Javascript very well to understand this framework better. Also, it is a better option if you want to scale your web application in the future.

Pick React, when you understand that in the future, you’ll need the reusable components. Also, React works best with any websites’ topics and sizes and provides top-notch performance and scalability. It is also fast to use, and it is a better option if the deadline is close enough.

Angular, React, and Vue play a very active role in software development. You will find new versions of these frameworks from time to time.

Why React Is the Best Web Framework 2021

React.js has been ranked #1 for several years in a row. Some developers have no complaints about this framework at all since it is rapidly evolving and becoming more stable.

Note that React.js is actually not a framework but a library. But it has such a wide functionality that the tool can often use without additional integrations. The front-end will be just as effective as always.

The Facebook team created React.js in 2013 to divide the user’s interface into a set of components to simplify the development process.

Core React Pros

Here are the top nine benefits of React.js as a website framework.

1. Cost-effectiveness - React provides developers with an inexpensive way to build web apps using React. And translates into a 50% reduction in development costs. This feature also makes React cheaper to maintain.

2. Quick release of projects - React's ability to develop a website’s functionality faster is one of the platform's most compelling features. Developers use a variety of off-the-shelf components to build functionality faster than ever. As React helps to code easier, it takes less effort to develop and run the end product.

3. Using JavaScript - According to the popular website Statista, JavaScript is the most widely used programming language in the world. 65% of developers prefer JavaScript. This makes it easy for developers with JavaScript experience to use React since this web framework is written in JavaScript.

4. You can keep your team small - While React development may still require data from other developers, still, most of the development assignments are done in JavaScript.

5. The advantage of open-source - React is an open-source MIT licensed platform, and it provides developers with access to libraries and frameworks for free. This imposes certain restrictions on software reuse, but also provides legal protections for developers.

6. Hot reload function - The hot reload feature is one of the most useful for developers. It allows the developer to add changes to the code and see the change in real-time. Thus, it allows updating the code that is already running. All that is required is to edit the source code and the update will be triggered in real-time after the file is saved.

7. Active developer community - Statista reveals that React is by far the best web framework and the most popular cross-platform development platform with a 40% market share. This is not surprising because the platform provides tremendous benefits for web developers.

8. Excellent performance - Web apps built with React show impressive performance comparable to native apps. With built-in mobile devices and controls in React apps that use native OS components to seamlessly code native APIs.

9. Design - React uses modular programming technology in which functions are implemented as separate blocks called modules. This approach provides a flexible development environment and also improves the interaction between developers. It allows to easily build and integrate updates with easy-to-use modules that can be reused for both WEB and mobile APIs.

We want to note that today React.js specialists are the most in-demand in the United States. As of early May 2020, LinkedIn has over 30,000 open vacancies for React.js, and Indeed has about 4,000. This makes React one of the most popular web frameworks these days.

One of the key reasons for the popularity of React.js is the support from Facebook. Services such as Instagram, Whatsapp, and Twitter work based on this development environment. They are all very fast and attractive. This has ensured a high level of trust in React.js.

The following cases are the most popular situation when this best web development framework is used:

• the fast development of lightweight enterprise-grade applications;
• creation of SPA or cross-platform applications;
• expanding the functionality of an existing application.

React Website Development Stages

• Analysing. A React website development requires complex work that starts with analysis. We analyze your business, competitors, target audience. Based on the analysis, a product concept is created.
• Creating the technical task. At this stage, we create a technical task. It includes the client’s wishes, future functionality, main modules, etc. All the subtleties and nuances are discussed. The discussion is documented, and the technical documentation becomes the guideline for the entire team during the React web development.
• UX Designing. The first development stage involves UX designers. They study your target audience in detail: register customer avatars, create possible scenarios for the customer's communication with your website and determine typical behavior. Based on this analysis, the first mock of the web application is created and tested immediately. The goal of UX design is to create the most convenient and simple customer journey to the target action on your website.
• UI Design and creating content. When the clickable prototype is ready, our creatives get to work. A designer creates a unique style based on your logo. At this stage, designers create the entire visual composition of the resource: buttons, icons, animation, infographics, and other visual elements.
• Front-end and Back-end development. At this stage building, a React site reflects the benefits of this technology. This library was created so that the User Interface was written simply, quickly, conveniently. At the same time, the versatility of React allows the application to run simultaneously on the server and the client. Developers will create reliable code that will be responsible for all the logic of the web application, and Front-end will translate the code into the browser language so that everything is displayed beautifully and logically.
• QA testing. As well as analysis, a test drive is an obligatory stage of website development. Everything is checked: from the performance of a web project to mobile device responsiveness. We also check how the web project is displayed in different browsers.

• Further support. Building a website with the help of one of the popular frameworks React is only the first part of the job. The web application needs updating and improvement, so we are ready to take your project for technical support in the future.

Final Thoughts

Even though the list of web frameworks is long, we stick to React web development as it gives us the most opportunities.

React is arguably the most trending JavaScript library at the moment. Originally designed to build Facebook products, it has gained widespread popularity among developers at established companies like Instagram, Yahoo, Airbnb, and Sony.

React is maintained and developed by Facebook and Instagram, as well as a whole community of independent developers.