Future of Frontend Web Development – Is it worth it?

Frontend development has advanced significantly in the previous decade. Creating a frontend web application is no longer as simple as it once was. There are several frontend frameworks and libraries available nowadays.

Previously, developers used basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create an interactive frontend web application. They later discovered it was not a sustainable solution for a vast and complex project. Developers created frontend framework as a reliable tool for creating reliable, substantial frontend applications.

A framework is a tool that enforces specific design patterns and guidelines for developing reliable applications. It offers a collection of tools and utilities that make it possible to create a reliable and consistent large-scale application more quickly than if we had to start from scratch.

Frontend development is expanding quickly, primarily because of the development of open-source tools, frameworks, and libraries.

In this post, we’ll examine how modern frontend frameworks evolved to reach this level of sophistication. We’ll also discuss how certain companies, like Vercel, are simplifying the deployment of frontend web apps.

jQuery

When JavaScript became available for public usage in the early days, various companies began rolling out browsers with their version of JavaScript. It was a nightmare for developers as they had to ensure that all the major browsers supported the application. To address this problem, ECMA’s Technical Committee TC39 standardized JavaScript as ECMAScript and incorporated it into the ECMA-262 specification. Standardization of JavaScript improved, but still, some implementation differences existed. To resolve this concern, developers created a variety of libraries. However, JQuery was the most popularly used.

jQuery was released in 2006. It is a collection of various utilities that attempt to simplify the development process of frontend web applications. One of the major areas in which jQuery excels is managing browser incompatibilities. Additionally, it made working with XMLHTTPRequest extremely simple and straightforward.

jQuery allowed developers to implement features much faster than before. The most notable feature of jQuery was its universal selector $. It made selecting and performing various operations on the DOM elements very simple.

It was a well-loved library. Although its use slowly decreased since it was not easy to maintain the codebase as the application size grew. However, people still use jQuery for small to medium-sized projects.

What is MVC architecture?

MVC stands for Model-view-controller (MVC). It is a design pattern in which we divide the application into three independent components: the Model, View, and Controller. Each of these components has its responsibilities.

The Model contains the core logic of the application. It defines how data is stored, retrieved, modified, etc. The View is the actual UI that the end user (or client) sees. And the Controller works as a link between the Model and the View. Its primary purpose is to transfer data between the Model and the View. Simply said, it works as a communication channel between the Model and the View.

Knockout.js

Knockout.js was announced in 2010. It was one of those early JavaScript frameworks that used MVVM architectural patterns. MVVM is quite similar to MVC. The critical distinction between the two is that MVVM uses a ViewModel instead of a Data Model.

It has a concept of observables. The primary purpose of observables is to establish communication between various components in our application. We bind the UI components to some observables, and whenever there is a change in the data, it was reflected in the UI, and vice-versa.

Backbone.js

Backbone.js was released in the year of 2010. It is more of a JavaScript library than a framework. Like other libraries and frameworks of that time, it followed the MVC architectural pattern. It focuses primarily on the data rather than the UI. That doesn’t mean that we cannot work with the UI. Unlike, Knockout.js, which has a two-way data binding between the Model and the View, in Backbone.js, we have to update the DOM manually.

Angular.js

Like Backbone.js, Angular.js was also announced in the year 2010. It is considered one of the most influential frontend frameworks. The approach Angular.js takes still inspires many new frameworks. Like other frameworks of this category, it also follows the MVC architectural pattern. Unlike other frameworks such as Backbone.js, Knockout.js, etc., it made connecting the DOM and the data very simple. Looking at its success, Google adopted the framework.

To improve AngularJS, the team updated the framework and renamed it to Angular 2. Due to compatibility issues, this updated version could not be used with AngularJS. Migrating to Angular 2 was quite difficult. As a result, its usage decreased over time.

React.js

React.js is the most popular frontend JavaScript library to date. It got released in 2013. React.js is an open-source software project developed and maintained by Facebook. React, as a library, is used only for the UI of the application. It uses JSX to render the UI. JSX or JavaScript XML uses an HTML-like syntax to write JavaScript code directly inside HTML.

One of the most critical components of React.js is the Reconciler. It is a diffing algorithm that React.js uses to compare two Virtual DOMs, and only the required modifications are applied to the browser DOM.

Vue.js

Vue.js is one of the most loved frameworks of today. It has got around 200K stars on Github and relies entirely on the open-source community for its development and maintenance. Evan you initially developed it, and he announced it as open-source software in 2014.

It uses the observer pattern to bind data with the UI. As a result, it supports two-way data binding with the UI. Whenever some change is made in the data, the UI re-renders to incorporate the latest changes. Also, on changing the UI, the data changes, and everything remains in sync.

Svelte

According to the 2021 Stackoverflow survey, Svelte is the most loved frontend JavaScript framework. It was released as open-source software in 2016. We often term it as a framework, but essentially, it’s a compiler. We write the components in .svelte files, which are then compiled to efficient JavaScript by the Svelte compiler.

Compared to other frameworks, Svelte is very easy to learn for beginners. It doesn’t feel like using a framework because it looks like we are writing simple JavaScript. Unlike React.js, declaring state variables feels much more natural because we define them just like ordinary variables.

In short, Svelte is a fantastic experience that definitely deserves its popularity and love.

What is Server Side Rendering (SSR)?

Server-side rendering is the most popular way of showing information on the screen. It operates by transforming HTML files on the server into data that the browser can use.

The best thing is that server-side rendering is excellent for SEO. Search engines can easily index and crawl your material since it is already there before you ever get it. Another benefit of server-side rendering is the faster initial page load.

Gatsby.js

Gatsby is a React-based framework that helps developers create high-performance websites and apps. Simply said, Gatsby is a static site generator using React.

Gatsby loads critical HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and other materials to improve efficiency. Once loaded, it prefetches resources for additional pages you could travel to. It ensures that your site loads as quickly as possible and that user interactions are as smooth as possible.

Next.js

Next.js is a React-based javascript framework that makes it simple for developers to construct static generation (SSG) and server-side rendering (SSR) websites. Unlike Gatsby, which is best suited for static websites, Next.js appears to be the most natural choice for server-side dynamic websites.

Remix.js

Remix.js is a server-side rendering React framework (SSR). It implies that a single Remix project may create both the backend and the front end. Unlike vanilla React, which collects data on the front end and renders it on the screen, Remix retrieves data on the backend and immediately feeds the HTML to the user.

Since both Remix and Next.js offer SSR, there doesn’t seem to be much difference between them at first sight. However, Remix mainly focuses on SSR, while Next.js provides SSG and other fantastic technologies.

The future

Most frontend frameworks have achieved a stable stage and are undergoing additional tuning to boost speed and developer friendliness. A new generation of lightweight, high-performance frameworks will emerge shortly.

Various frameworks are in the works. These technologies can bring a new age of frontend development. Let us go through a couple of them.

Astro

Astro was released in 2021. It has a concept of partial hydration. Using partial hydration, we can use any framework of choice to build our frontend web application. Partial hydration is one of the reasons why we often term Astro as a “Bring Your Own Framework” (BYOF).

Qwik

Qwik is the only JavaScript framework that can hydrate components out of order at the component level and is unique. In addition, Qwik introduces a new concept to JavaScript’s dictionary: the resumable framework.

Hosting platforms: Vercel

The deployment of frontend web apps has become so simple, thanks to companies like Vercel. It’s no longer necessary to spend hours configuring your servers. With frontend hosting solutions like Vercel, we can launch our frontend web application in a matter of clicks.

Vercel has several benefits over other hosting systems, including:

1. Free domain name: Vercel offers personalized domains for deploying your work on a live server.
2. Automatic Deployments: Vercel automatically deploys updates to the server whenever we push changes to the production branch.
3. Serverless Functions: Vercel allows us to manage functions or APIs without hosting them on any servers. The functions are essentially serverless and are hosted nowhere.

Conclusion

The JavaScript programming language is fascinating to learn, and with these frameworks, you can build almost anything for any device. The number of frontend JavaScript frameworks is constantly growing. Throughout this article, we looked at how these frameworks evolved and how a new era of frontend development had begun. Moreover, we spoke about the many frameworks that offer server-side rendering, such as Gatsby, Next, etc. In addition, we discussed some new-generation frontend web frameworks that may change how we build frontend web applications in the future. Taking your first steps to construct your first application has never been easier.

Thank you so much for reading ?