JavaScript has always been a vital component of web development. Since its creation in 1995, the functionality of this scripting framework continues to grow, providing web developers with a platform to create new user experiences. With over 95% of websites on the Internet leveraging this technology, it has played a crucial role in shaping the web we know today. As one of the three core front-end languages, JavaScript, along with HTML and CSS, runs on almost every web application that provides the fuel for today’s modern digital economy.
The Benefits of JavaScript
From a web development perspective, JavaScript has several advantages that justify its popularity as one of the critical web front end technologies. It is very fast as it runs in the user’s browser. Increased support for just in time compilation means there is no code to compile before it executes. Some may argue, but another JavaScript advantage is its simplicity. Relative to other programming languages, it is easy to learn. It is also pervasive across the Internet while its use as a backend technology is growing. The rise of Node.js in recent years is proof of that.
The Rise of the JavaScript Libraries and Frameworks
Over the years, framework authors have created many JavaScript libraries aiding developers to realize the benefits of rapid code release. By leveraging these development artifacts, coders gain the advantages of efficiency, time-saving, and leading-edge innovation. Some JavaScript elitists believe that using frameworks is poor practice. As a library user is not coding in pure JavaScript, they are not learning the JavaScript code. However, outputs and deliverables are the metrics used to measure the success of a developer. JavaScript libraries are merely tools that ease the development process. They create economies of scale by ensuring the wheel does not need reinventing each time.
JavaScript frameworks and libraries come in many shapes and forms. From Document Object Model (DOM) manipulation to visualization, templating, and even testing, developers can pick and choose from a broad range of ever-evolving toolsets. Below are some of the more popular JavaScript libraries, their benefits, and the features they contain.
jQuery
You cannot start a list of JavaScript libraries without mentioning jQuery. First released in 2006, this framework is almost as pervasive as JavaScript itself, with close to 70 million active users. jQuery’s primary attraction is its ease of use. Leveraging this library gives developers the ability to do more while writing less code. By streamlining and standardizing the interaction between JavaScript and HTML elements, it facilitates simplified CSS, HTML, and DOM manipulation. Developers can also leverage jQuery to create front-end animation and effects, making it far more SEO friendly than Flash.
React
React is an open-source JavaScript library backed by Facebook. Its creator is a former employee. Leveraging this versatile framework gives you the freedom to build both small and large web applications. It is particularly useful in creating interactive websites where a single page has multiple, independent elements. Facebook is a good example. It allows for the creation of Single Page Applications (SPAs) as you can render elements on one web page and interact with them, without the need for constant browser refreshes. In addition to these overarching benefits, React has a range of several advantages for the developer. It boosts productivity, ensures faster rendering, and guarantees stable code.
Velocity
Velocity is another useful JavaScript library. Its primary differentiator is its animation engine that utilizes the same API as jQuery’s $.animate(). It is incredibly fast and offers features such as color animation and SVG support. It also gives developers the capability to introduce HTML elements into their design that require transforms, loops, easing, and scrolling. It is easy to implement if you are already using jQuery, and it is much faster, especially on mobile devices. Uber and WhatsApp are just two of the thousands of mobile apps that leverage this JavaScript library.
Google Polymer
The Polymer project developed by Google and other contributors on GitHub is an open-source JavaScript library focused on web components. Released in 2015, Google Polymer facilitates the creation of JavaScript components that developers can leverage to build web applications. It gives you the capability to compose encapsulated CSS, JavaScript, and HTML as custom elements. From a development perspective, Polymer leverages a shadow DOM. This separation of form and function ensures a developer’s code remains modular and disconnected, creating the scalability and flexibility needed.
AngularJS
Like Polymer, AngularJS is another Google-backed JavaScript Framework. It gives developers the freedom to build fully-functional web applications and has data binding features and capabilities. One of the primary benefits of using this JavaScript framework is that it gives you everything you need in a preconfigured development environment. Built with typescript, AngularJS uses this strongly typed language to help developers keep their code clean and logical. Another benefit of leveraging this JavaScript library is the Angular Material UI component library. It provides developers with a set of reusable components based on Google’s Material Design system.
Vue.js
Vue.js, like React and Angular, is a JavaScript framework for building modern web solutions. It is particularly suited to the development of user interfaces and single-page applications. It differentiates itself from other JavaScript libraries by being incrementally adoptable. It is small, easy to understand, flexible, and facilitates the creation and implementation of advanced front-end functions and features. As it is younger than both React and Angular, Vue has the late starter advantage taking the lessons learned from its two closest competitors. It uses a mix of both functional and object-oriented programming concepts and separates HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, a coding standard web developers have known for years.
JavaScript Libraries and Content Delivery Networks
A Content Delivery Network (CDN) improves the performance and availability of modern web applications by caching static content as close to end-users as possible. As JavaScript libraries do not change that often, configuring a CDN to store and deliver these web artifacts can improve the page load times of your site. Instead of downloading the core files from the origin site each time a browser renders a page, a CDN facilitates a much faster loading time by ensuring there is a geographically dispersed updated copy. This configuration results in a reduced latency that increases the performance of your website and improves the experience of your users wherever they may be on the planet.