What to look for in a front-end framework
Before you start looking for a front-end framework for your next project, it’s important to teach yourself the most important things to look for in a frame. Keeping these considerations in mind will make it easier for you to weigh the pros and cons of the most popular front-end website design agency:
Skill level – consider your skill level when choosing a front-end framework. If you’re a beginner, a more robust framework like Bootstrap that comes with many useful widgets and requires minimal coding skills may be better suited for you. If you’re more experienced, you may be better off choosing a simpler framework that gives you plenty of room to customize it. These frames are also usually slimmer and less bloated, which is a plus.
Responsive design – Any website you develop should display correctly on all devices, as more and more people access the internet via mobile devices. According to StatCounter, mobile traffic has overtaken desktop traffic since December 2020, with 55.73% of traffic coming from mobile devices. So stick to front-end frameworks that support responsive web design, so you have one less thing to worry about.
CSS preprocessors – If you use CSS preprocessors and prefer one or the other, typically Sass vs Less, make sure the framework you use supports them.
Appearance – Choose a framework that allows you to achieve the look you want with the least effort.
Prototyping – The ideal frontend framework allows you to quickly create wireframes and prototypes to speed up the overall design and development process.
More than anything, the right front-end framework simplifies, streamlines, and accelerates the web design and development process, while giving you the flexibility and features you need to achieve outstanding results.
Without further add, here are the most popular front-end frameworks.
| React
Created as an open-source project and still used by Facebook, React is a popular JS framework that focuses on user experience. Unlike some other frameworks, React is highly portable. No matter what underlying technology you use, you will be able to benefit from React. Comparable to something in OOP communications, React empowers developers to create “components”.
The unique feature of React is that it can be rendered both on the server and client sides. Depending on data security requirements, some components can be rendered on the server, while others can be rendered on the client. Those who want to create mobile apps will be happy to know that it is part of React Native, which allows to development of standalone apps and the creation of mobile websites.
Benefits:
Thanks to React’s reusable components, developers don’t have to write the same code over and over again.
Due to its popularity, there is a huge amount of free help available online from other developers.
Disadvantages:
React focuses a lot on UI development, which can make other aspects of development difficult.
The learning curve for this framework is high, in part due to inconsistent project documentation.
| Vue.js
Vue.js was created as an early fork of Angular by engineers at Google and was developed as an alternative to Angular and React. It was created as a minimalist version of Angular, but it has grown significantly over the years. Originally used for smaller developer projects, it has now become a full-fledged framework.
Using traditional HTML, CSS, and JS, developers can create components just like other popular frameworks, such as React. What sets this framework apart from others is its support for bidirectional data binding. Because it has taken ideas from both React and Angular, it would not be difficult to move from either language to Vue.
What made Vue popular in the beginning was its excellent documentation and tutorials, along with numerous useful developer tools. It has its own CLI, browser extensions for debugging, a state management system, and an emulator for server rendering.
Pros:
Excellent documentation and intended for both beginners and experienced developers.
An extensive ecosystem of tools has grown over the years.
The framework is small in size and easy to learn.
Disadvantages:
There is a risk of excessive flexibility, as too many options can result in different programming approaches.
Given its age, there is less support for Vue than for its competitors.