Since the standards of web app development are constantly rising, development frameworks have become an essential element of web development.
However, there are several good reasons why web development frameworks are becoming increasingly popular. Projects today require some complex technologies, and creating these technologies means putting yourself in a huge deal of hassle. Therefore using development frameworks has become a more sensible choice for developers worldwide.
Technically, creating a web application would require you to leverage a frontend framework (client-side) and a backend development framework (server-side). So in this piece, we’ll discuss some of the most popular backend frameworks and frontend frameworks to help you make the right choice when creating a project. You can also read our guides on development-related topics like Java project ideas to boost your programming career and the differences between Scripting and Programming languages.
Now let’s begin with our list of best web development frameworks.
Most Popular Backend Web Development Frameworks
- Express
- Django
- Rails
- Laravel
- Spring
1. Express – Fast, Unopinionated Web Framework for NodeJS
Express is among the best web development frameworks out there that you can use to create your web app’s backend. Thanks to its everlasting popularity, it enjoys popularity among developers worldwide. Just for reference, Express has been used by popular figures such as Uber, IBM, and Accenture to create their web apps.
But that’s not the only reason making Express a strong choice. Its compatibility with other frameworks such as Loopback, Kraken, and sails also makes it a reliable choice. Moreover, it is considered one of the minimalist and fastest backend development frameworks from JS present.
While Express enjoys all of these advantages mentioned above, there’s a major drawback about it: its learning curve. Typically, there’s no definite way or guide on doing things on Express, which means a nightmare for starters who’re learning development. Refer to the link below to get started with Express.
2. Django – A Known Web Development Framework
Who doesn’t know about Python? It is debatably one of the most popular languages that exist in the development niche. Focused more on the inclusive side, Django is one of the most popular web frameworks that Python has to offer. For reference, Django has been used by names including Google, Instagram, and YouTube.
It provides you with all the techniques and features needed to build a web app with robust security protocols. The learning curve is quite advantageous here as it provides an admin panel, Objects Rational Mapping (ORM) database interfaces, and directory structure. In simpler words, you wouldn’t usually require any third-party integration on Django.
Now a major drawback why many developers do not suggest Django is the lack of conventions. Learn more about Django in our extensive comparison of Django vs. Flask.
3. Rails – A Multifaceted Web Development Framework
The Model-View-Controller Ruby is one of the best web frameworks that use Ruby. This one is quite popular and preferred by a huge number of developers for its beginner-friendly learning curve. Used by the giants such as Airbnb, Hulu, Github, and even Shopify, Rails enjoys many significant advantages. For example, library-like dependencies in Rails would help you boost the functionality of your web app. Moreover, Rails’ big community is always available for you to take advantage of when it comes to tutorials and screencasts.
However, the drawbacks come around when you need to deploy it and run it in a testing environment. It’s a headache. Moreover, even if its learning curve is quite friendly in the initial stages, it becomes quite complicated when you dig deep into Rail’s functionalities.
4. Laravel – Best MVC Web Development Framework
Again, Laravel is among the Model-View-Controller development frameworks. It uses one of the most prevalent languages called PHP. Now, most of us are familiar with PHP, making Laravel sound like the best framework for web development. However, it is worth noting that Laravel is still quite a young framework when you compare it with the likes of Django and Express.
Despite being younger, Laravel comes with API support right of the box, and that’s not all. The screencast tutorials website of Laravel “Laracast” is considered a beginners’ heaven for learning PHP and Laravel.
This might not sound like a drawback, but Laravel lacks behind Express and Django when it comes to performance. You can feel this difference in performance when dealing with larger projects.
5. Spring – A Quality Web Development Framework By Java
Spring is one of the best web frameworks from Java. Now Java is one of the world-class programming languages which is the pioneer behind some of the most popular backend frameworks today, and Spring is one of them.
Like Laravel, it is a Model-View-Controller development framework used by BillGuard, Wix, Ticketmaster, etc. It is so widely held today because of its many sister projects that you can leverage to scale your projects. Moreover, since it’s a framework from Java, it could be used to create some best backend for Angular.
However, the learning curve of Spring is quite a significant drawback here. Especially if you haven’t worked with Java previously, Spring is going to be a headache.
Best Frontend Web Development Frameworks
- Angular
- React
- Vue
- Ember
- Backbone
1. Angular JS – A Remarkable Frontend Development Framework
Angular is one of the best web frameworks from Java. It is highly popular among developers for its performance when it comes to creating rich single-page applications. You can imagine its popularity because Giants like Google, Microsoft, and PayPal use it for their front end.
Back in the day, Angular was based on Javascript, but that’s now a thing of the past as the newer versions are based on the superscript of Javascript can Typescript.
Now there’s only one drawback about Angular, which is the fact that it is not SEO-friendly. However, you can always optimize it based on your needs. Learn more about Angular after reading our quality blog.
2. React – Flawless Frontend Development Framework
Initially, React was created by Facebook as a testing tool, but later it maintained its position as the best framework for web development. Even though it is more of a front library, developers worldwide consider it a frontend framework. To your surprise, it was the first framework to adopt the component-based architecture, even before the likes of Vue and Angular.
Moreover, when it comes to dom-manipulation, React’sdom can make it much faster than the other frameworks. One of the biggest reasons React is considered the best web framework is that it could be used on the server-side and client-side. Since Facebook develops it, they’re the major one to use it.
Many wouldn’t consider it a drawback, but React’s technology is updated constantly and at a fast pace, which leaves minimal time for proper documentation. Developers usually have to write their instructions based on new updates and tools.
3. Vue. js- Tremendous Frontend Development Framework
Compared to Angular and React, Vue.js is still a new framework. Starting as a simple project, Vue quickly grew into one of the most popular web frameworks, and that’s with a good reason. Firstly, it has a progressive nature which enables you to adopt it on portions of a project that you want. And secondly, its component architecture allows you to develop complete frontend applications.
Now here’s the drawback, since it is comparatively newer than its alternatives, bigger names do not often use it. However, looking at its amazing feature, one can tell that this will change in the future.
4. Ember – Beautifully Crafted Frontend Development Framework
Image source: Insights.dice
Back in the day, Ember was known as the best web framework from Java. There’s a good fact backing this statement. The features and functionality of Ember are constantly expanding, and it has a humungous community that you can look towards any time for assistance. Moreover, features like two-way binding come right of the box for you to take advantage of.
You can imagine how popular Ember is by looking at how giants like Microsoft, Google, and Netflix are using it for their operations.
One of the biggest advantages of Ember comes around the point that it has some of JavaScript’s best practices built into its core design, which eliminates the extra time required for various tasks.
The difficult learning curve here could be a drawback for many.
Backbone – User-Friendly Frontend Development Framework
Backbone is another one of the greatest frontend web development frameworks from JavaScript. Now the reason why this framework is extremely popular among the developers is that it is comparatively much light-weighted than the alternatives. Despite being light-weighted, Backbone is quite impressive when it comes to creating rich single-page applications. With only a single dependency, this framework has a great ecosystem that you can add with Marionette and Mustache to create a full-flash client-side application.
A drawback here is its unclear library, which often makes it difficult to execute certain tasks.
Over To You | Best Web Development Frameworks
So there you go. Now you know all the best web development frameworks that you can leverage to create your project. Even though you’ll find some similarities among these frameworks, you will confuse when making a choice. However, we recommend you quickly choose one and start working on it as you’ll get to know more about them, working on them first-hand.
Also, read our other guides on subjects like “what is Bootstrap?” to raise your knowledge on the subject.
