The Popular Frameworks Used For Web Application Development

The web application development industry is growing rapidly and exponentially with no signs of stagnation. You can observe this from this recent stat which states that the market size of global web development is expected to reach approximately $131 billion by 2032 at a CAGR of 8.03%.

Source According to Statista

Hence, the message out there for all web developers is loud and clear. You must remain abreast of the latest web development frameworks and trends not by choice, but to compete and succeed in the stiff competition. After all, your profession requires you to build more scalable, agile, flexible, and robust web applications.

So, before we start with our journey and discuss the most popular web development frameworks in this article, let’s first have a brief overview of what a web development framework is.

We can define a web development framework as a programming language or a software platform that web developers use to create a diverse range of websites, web applications, and APIs. This may include a feature-rich and user-friendly eCommerce platform or any other business application. But do you know what is the biggest advantage of web development frameworks?

You get the leverage of prewritten code libraries, snippets, components, and application templates. This simply means that you do not have to start from scratch to build an application as the foundation base is already ready.

To understand this better, just imagine a scenario where you have to work on constructing a building with the foundation already laid and structural beams placed.

So, if you are a web developer, you must know that web development frameworks are categorized into two categories -

1. Front-end Development also known as the Client-Side Web Development
2. Back-end Development also known as the Server-Side Web Development

To help you make this understanding better, we will first highlight the top front-end web development frameworks, followed by backend frameworks.

1. React JS

React JS is one of the most popular and leading front-end frameworks that allows you to craft interactive and dynamic user interfaces. According to Statista, React.js ranks second on the list of most used web frameworks by developers in 2023, after Node.js with 40.5%.  This powerful JavaScript library is powered and maintained by social media giant Facebook. One of the biggest benefits of using ReactJS is that you can build complex web applications and interfaces quickly and easily.  This is because it breaks the codes into reusable, self-contained components.

Core Features 

• React JS encapsulates user interface elements into architectural components to provide modular development.
• Updates the DOM parts instead of re-rendering the whole page to enhance web app performance.
• Allows web developers to improve user interface and user experience elements with declarative syntax, making the codes easier to understand and maintain.

Top companies using React JS are Facebook, Instagram, Airbnb, Netflix, Twitter, and more.

Recommended: What Steps Should You Follow to Hire the Right Mobile Application Developer?

2. AngularJS

Do you know that Angular JS is the biggest competitor of React JS in terms of client-side web development? Yes, if ReactJS is developed by Facebook, AngularJS is powered and maintained by Search Engine Giant Google. Like React, Angular is also a well-known JavaScript framework that is primarily used for building dynamic web applications and single-page applications. Also, you can create a comprehensive enterprise web application using Angular. Approximately, 17.46% of web developers use AngularJS worldwide.

Core Features

• Offers a two-way data binding process to sync. Data automatically between the view and model and minimizing the boilerplate requirement.
• You can insert the components within their dependencies using dependency injection to increase model performance and testability.
• The MVC (Model View Controller) architecture simplifies the application structure by separating the main concerns.

Top companies using AngularJS are Google, YouTube, Upwork, PayPal, Samsung, Gmail, and more. 

3. Vue.js

We can say that Vue.js is the best JavaScript front-end framework for all those businesses and web developers who are looking for viable alternatives to ReactJS and AngularJS. It is known for its progressive web-intuitive features and helps developers build visually appealing user interfaces and single-page applications.  You can look to hire frontend developers to create exceptional web apps without putting much effort into the development process.

Core Features 

1. The best part about Vue.js development is its simplicity and easy-to-understand language. It also provides automatic updates and a seamless experience.
2. Promotes the development of reusable components, which you can easily manage and combine with other elements.
3. Provides a command-line interface for scaffolding projects and managing development workflows.

The leading companies and platforms using Vue.js are Alibaba, Xiaomi, Gitlab, Grammarly, Adobe, and more.

Now, let’s discuss the leading web framework for server-side development. Here, you will find many more choices as compared to front-end development programming languages. However, we are only highlighting the top three backend frameworks. These are

4. Node.js 

You will have to believe that Node.js is one of the most popular and extensively used backend frameworks with 42.65% of developers using it to power their client’s websites. It is a free and open-source server-side JavaScript runtime framework that helps you create cross-platform applications. It is compatible with all popular operating systems, namely Windows, Linux, and macOS. You can easily create customized dynamic web pages to enhance your online traffic.

Recommended: The Benefits of Node.js for Startups and Small Businesses

Core Features 

• The non-blocking I/O feature helps to efficiently manage multiple connections to increase web application performance and scalability.
• It uses event-driven architecture to manage asynchronous operations.
• The NPM ecosystem offers access to a vast source of library, containing modules and packages to enhance web application functionality.

Top companies using Node.js include Netflix, Uber, Walmart, LinkedIn, PayPal, and more.

5. Django

Django is the high-level Python web framework designed for efficient and clean web application development. It has an ORM for dealing with databases and interfaces and has a built-in robust CMS system based on the admin panel along with basic protection against multiple dangers. The simplicity of Django and its ability to provide for building large scalable applications also makes Django designed for creating secure web applications in the shortest time.

Core Features 

• ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) helps streamline database interactions through Python mapping with database tables.
• Automatically generates a powerful admin interface for managing application data using an admin interface.
• Has the best-in-class security features to tackle different types of threats.

Notable customers of Django include Instagram, Mozilla Firefox, YouTube, Pinterest, Spotify, and more.

6. Laravel

Laravel is a PHP framework that is widely known for its comprehensive syntax and set of spectacular features. It comes with a clean and easy-to-use ORM known as Eloquent, an Artisan command line interface, and the Blade templating engine for creating clean and dynamic views. Laravel is designed to be simple and easy to read which enhances the speed of the development while offering full functionality for web applications.

Core Features 

• The Eloquent ORM provides an expressive, fluent interface for database interactions.
• It uses Artisan CLI to efficiently handle common tasks and application management.
• Blade Templating Engine streamlines view creation with a clean and intuitive templating syntax.

Top companies using Laravel PHP backend framework are Pfizer, BBC, 9GAG, TourRadar, and many more.

Conclusion 

We can certainly say that different web frameworks for front-end and back-end development are taking web building to the next level where users can get access and browse a comprehensive clean and feature-rich website to enhance their experiences. As times have passed, these frameworks have become much more modern and powerful, all thanks to advanced tools and packages, coupled with innovative technologies implementation.

Whether you hire front-end development services or developers for the backend, one thing is for sure; you are on the way to designing a highly responsive, user-friendly, and robust web application with these stacks.