The Most Popular JavaScript Framework, Ranked

Choose the framework you think is the most popular!

Author: Gregor Krambs
Updated on Apr 24, 2024 07:18
In the dynamic world of web development, staying updated with the most popular tools is crucial for both new and experienced developers. A ranked list of JavaScript frameworks can be incredibly helpful, not only for making informed decisions about which frameworks might best suit a project's needs but also for understanding industry trends and developer preferences. Your participation in voting on this list aids in refining and validating current rankings, ensuring they reflect the real-time popularity and effectiveness of each framework. By casting your vote, you contribute to a valuable resource that benefits the entire developer community, guiding both learning paths and professional projects.

What Is the Most Popular JavaScript Framework?

  1. 1
    72
    votes
    React is the most popular JavaScript framework used for building user interfaces. It is known for its flexibility, high performance, and reusable components. It is backed by Facebook and has a large and active community.
    React is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces. It allows developers to create reusable UI components, which can render efficiently and update dynamically when the data changes. React follows a component-based architecture, where each component manages its own state and can be composed to form complex UI structures. It uses a virtual DOM to optimize rendering performance by efficiently updating only the necessary parts of the UI. React is widely adopted in web development for creating interactive and scalable front-end applications.
    • Declarative: Allows developers to describe how the UI should look based on the data
    • Component-based: Promotes the use of reusable and modular components for building UI
    • Virtual DOM: Optimizes rendering by updating only the necessary parts of the UI
    • Unidirectional data flow: Makes it easier to understand and debug the state changes in the application
    • Server-side rendering: Enables rendering React components on the server for improved performance and SEO
  2. 2
    30
    votes
    Angular is a popular JavaScript framework used for building web applications. It is maintained by Google and is known for its declarative templates, dependency injection, and two-way data binding.
    Angular is a popular JavaScript framework used for building web applications. It provides a structured approach to application development and offers a range of features for creating dynamic and responsive user interfaces. Angular follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern and utilizes declarative templates to define the application's UI.
    • Two-way data binding: Angular supports automatic synchronization of data between the model and the view.
    • Dependency injection: Angular provides a built-in dependency injection system, making it easy to integrate and manage dependencies.
    • Component-based architecture: Angular promotes the use of reusable components, making it easier to maintain and scale applications.
    • Directives: Angular allows the creation of custom directives, extending HTML with additional functionality.
    • Routing: Angular includes a powerful routing module for building single-page applications with multiple views.
  3. 3
    30
    votes
    Vue.js is a progressive JavaScript framework used for building user interfaces. It is known for its simplicity, flexibility, and ease of integration with other libraries. It has gained popularity in recent years and has a growing community.
    Vue.js is a JavaScript framework for building user interfaces. It allows developers to create interactive and reactive web applications. It focuses on the view layer, providing an elegant and intuitive syntax along with seamless integration with existing projects.
    • Virtual DOM: Vue.js uses a virtual DOM to efficiently update the user interface.
    • Component-based architecture: Developers can build large-scale applications by composing reusable components.
    • Reactive data-binding: Vue.js provides a simple and flexible data-binding system, allowing automatic updates of the DOM when data changes.
    • Directives: Directives enable developers to add special behaviors to elements or components.
    • Computed properties: Vue.js allows the creation of computed properties that are automatically updated when their dependencies change.
  4. 4
    14
    votes
    jQuery jQuery is jQuery is a popular JavaScript library used for DOM manipulation, event handling, and AJAX. It is known for its simplicity and ease of use, and has been widely adopted by web developers.
    jQuery is a fast, small, and feature-rich JavaScript library. It provides a simple and efficient way to perform various tasks on web pages, such as manipulating HTML elements, handling events, and making AJAX requests. jQuery's design philosophy emphasizes simplicity and compatibility, making it widely adopted and popular among web developers.
    • Version: 3.6.0
    • Size: 94KB minified, 30KB gzipped
    • DOM manipulation: Powerful and easy-to-use selectors and traversing methods
    • Event handling: Comprehensive event handling and delegation capabilities
    • AJAX support: High-level methods for making HTTP requests and handling responses
  5. 5
    14
    votes
    Ember.js is a JavaScript framework used for building web applications. It is known for its convention over configuration approach, and its focus on developer productivity. It has a strong community and is used by companies such as LinkedIn, Netflix, and Yahoo.
    Ember.js is a popular JavaScript framework used for building scalable web applications. It follows the Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) architectural pattern and provides a rich set of tools and conventions to simplify development. Ember.js emphasizes developer productivity, maintainability, and best practices. It was created by Yehuda Katz and originally released in December 2011.
    • Language: JavaScript
    • Architecture: Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM)
    • Release Date: December 2011
    • Developer Productivity: Emphasis on code conventions and best practices
    • Scalability: Designed for building large and complex web applications
  6. 6
    8
    votes
    Backbone.js is a lightweight JavaScript framework used for building web applications. It is known for its simplicity and minimalistic approach, and provides a simple structure for organizing code. It has been widely adopted by startups and smaller companies.
    Backbone.js is a lightweight JavaScript framework that provides structure to web applications by offering an organized way to handle the data, events, and interactions. It follows the Model-View-Presenter (MVP) architectural pattern and operates with a RESTful JSON interface. Backbone.js simplifies the process of developing single-page applications and managing the underlying data models.
    • Framework type: JavaScript framework
    • Architecture: Model-View-Presenter (MVP)
    • Data handling: Efficient data syncing and manipulation
    • Event-driven: Easy event delegation and subscription
    • Routing: Client-side URL routing and navigation
  7. 7
    7
    votes
    Meteor is a full-stack JavaScript framework used for building web and mobile applications. It is known for its real-time capabilities, and its ability to build applications with one language across all platforms. It has a growing community and is used by companies such as Honeywell and Mazda.
    The Meteor is an advanced air-to-air missile designed for superior performance in aerial engagements. It is characterized by its long-range capability, high precision, and advanced guidance system.
    • Type: Beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile
    • Length: 3.65 meters
    • Diameter: 0.178 meters
    • Weight: 185 kilograms
    • Range: 100+ kilometers
  8. 8
    7
    votes
    Aurelia is a JavaScript framework used for building web applications. It is known for its simplicity, modularity, and extensibility. It is designed to be easily integrated with other libraries and tools, and has a growing community.
    Aurelia is a popular JavaScript framework for building modern, scalable web applications. It emphasizes simplicity, modularity, and testing. The framework is designed to be highly flexible and customizable, allowing developers to choose only the features they need. Aurelia follows a convention-over-configuration approach, making it efficient and easy to use. It provides a powerful binding system that allows for two-way data binding and automatic UI updates. With Aurelia, developers can build complex applications with ease and maintainability.
    • Declarative Syntax: Aurelia uses a declarative syntax based on HTML and JavaScript to define the structure and behavior of applications.
    • Modularity: Aurelia is highly modular, enabling developers to choose only the modules they need and easily swap them out as desired.
    • Extensibility: The framework is designed to be highly extensible, allowing developers to create their own custom elements and behaviors.
    • Two-way Data Binding: Aurelia provides a powerful two-way data binding system that allows for automatic UI updates when data changes.
    • Dependency Injection: Aurelia has a robust dependency injection system built-in, making it easy to manage dependencies and promote modular code.
  9. 9
    8
    votes
    Polymer is a JavaScript library used for building web components. It is known for its focus on encapsulation and reusability, and provides a simple way to create custom elements for the web. It is backed by Google and has a growing community.
    Polymer is an open-source JavaScript framework for building web applications that utilize web components. It aims to provide a modular and efficient way to create reusable components and encourage best practices in web development.
    • Framework type: JavaScript
    • License: BSD-3-Clause
    • Initial release: February 2013
    • Latest version: 3.0.5
    • Supported platforms: All major browsers
  10. 10
    10
    votes
    Express.js is a popular JavaScript framework used for building web applications. It is known for its simplicity and flexibility, and provides a way to build web servers and APIs using Node.js. It has been widely adopted by startups and smaller companies.
    Express.js is a lightweight and flexible web application framework for Node.js. It provides a minimal set of robust features for building web applications quickly and easily.
    • Routing: Enables defining of routes for handling different HTTP methods and URLs
    • Middleware: Supports middleware functions to handle requests and responses
    • Template engines: Allows integration of various template engines to render dynamic HTML
    • Error handling: Provides error handling mechanisms with customizable error handling middleware
    • Built-in tools: Includes tools like cookie parsing, session management, and logging

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Ranking factors for popular framework

  1. Popularity and community support
    A large and active community typically indicates a popular and well-supported framework. Consider factors such as the number of stars on GitHub, number of contributors, frequency of updates, and activity on forums or Stack Overflow.
  2. Learning curve
    A good JavaScript framework should have comprehensive documentation, tutorials, and resources, making it easy for developers to start using it.
  3. Versatility and flexibility
    The framework should be versatile enough to build various types of applications, including web, mobile, or desktop. It should also be able to integrate with other libraries or tools.
  4. Performance
    Choose a framework that delivers high-performance applications, with factors such as load time, rendering speed, and efficient memory management being key considerations.
  5. Scalability
    The framework should be able to handle increasing application size and complexity, while maintaining stability and performance.
  6. Modularity and code maintainability
    A good framework should promote modularity, making it easy to maintain, modify, and extend code.
  7. Security
    The framework should have built-in security measures to protect applications from common web vulnerabilities, such as XSS, CSRF, and code injection attacks.
  8. Ecosystem and third-party libraries
    Consider the availability of third-party plugins and extensions that can enhance the functionality of the framework. A rich ecosystem can save development time and effort by providing pre-built solutions for certain problems.
  9. Testability
    The framework should support and encourage testing practices, such as unit testing, integration testing, and end-to-end testing, to ensure the stability and quality of the application.
  10. Compatibility with modern web standards
    Choose a framework that keeps up with modern web standards, such as responsive design, progressive web apps, or server-side rendering.
  11. Licensing and cost
    Be aware of the licensing terms of the framework, as this can have an impact on development costs and code usage rights.

About this ranking

This is a community-based ranking of the most popular JavaScript framework. We do our best to provide fair voting, but it is not intended to be exhaustive. So if you notice something or framework is missing, feel free to help improve the ranking!

Statistics

  • 1430 views
  • 196 votes
  • 10 ranked items

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Voting Rules

A participant may cast an up or down vote for each framework once every 24 hours. The rank of each framework is then calculated from the weighted sum of all up and down votes.

More information on most popular javascript framework

JavaScript has become one of the most widely used programming languages on the web, powering countless websites and applications. With its versatility and flexibility, it's no surprise that developers are constantly seeking out new and innovative ways to utilize JavaScript to create dynamic and interactive web experiences. One of the key ways that developers achieve this is by using JavaScript frameworks, which provide pre-built libraries of code that can be easily integrated into their projects. These frameworks offer a range of benefits, from simplifying the development process to improving performance and scalability. But with so many different JavaScript frameworks available, it can be challenging to determine which one is the most popular or best suited for a particular project. That's where StrawPoll comes in, providing a platform for developers to share their opinions and insights on the various frameworks available, and helping to identify which ones are the most widely used and highly recommended.

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