There is no doubt that JavaScript frameworks are born every single day. Even when I am typing this blog post, there must be someone working on a new JavaScript framework.
With a plethora of options available, it is tough to choose the right JavaScript framework for your next business idea or your app.
That being said, here are the 4 points that I suggest for choosing an open source JS framework.
1. Community
The size of the community determines many essential aspects of a framework. The larger the community, the easier it is to find the solutions to your problem.
Imagine deploying a Next.js app on AWS Amplify and getting stuck somewhere in the process. One search on Google and you will get a good amount of results. On the other hand, imagine you are deploying the same app on Amplify but made with a different JS framework, let's say framework X which is new and has a small size community. You might need to find the solution by yourself and that might be a painstaking process especially if you are tight on resources.
If the community is huge then chances are that the framework might sustain for a longer period.
Whenever there is a new framework, it is good to consider the response of the community. It does not mean that you should not be an early adapter. Maybe you might want to test the water by yourself.
2. Security and performance
When it comes to security and performance, you will rarely find anyone who is compromising on both of these aspects. JavaScript is a client-side language, which means it runs in the browser and exposes every downloaded script to the client.
It's not just the framework but it is also the developer's responsibility to make sure that the app is as secure as possible with performance efficiency as much as possible. As a developer, naturally we want to focus more on the main aspects of development leaving most of the overheads on the framework we use. So in this case it becomes important to do a bit of research on how frameworks in your list handle security and performance issues.
For example, Vue escapes most of the HTML avoiding script injection. React has a small number of attack points but it is not 100% secure which might cause security threats because of external open source components.
When it comes to performance, Vue's performance is slightly better as it knows what to rerender when there is a state change compared to React where the entire component tree rerenders on state changes if hooks or lifecycles are not used correctly.
3. Developer experience
This is one of the major aspects I would say when it comes to development. Better the developer experience happier the developer is to work on the framework or app.
Imagine you have to make an app which is quite complex and requires a good amount of time to finish. Now when you are using a framework where things are a bit complex and lots of workarounds are needed, chances are you might lose interest in the development and thus in the project.
On the contrary, imagine working for the same app but with a framework which is straightforward, most of the overheads are already managed for you by the framework, and writing and reusing components is as easy as it could be, and super straightforward when it comes to updating from one version to another. Chances are you might give 100% for that project as you are enjoying the development of the app to its fullest.
4. Learning curve
The learning curve is another interesting aspect when it comes to choosing a framework. How easy it is to grasp the framework? How easy it is to switch from another framework to this one and vice versa? Is there a good amount of resources available? These are a few of those many questions you could ask to see if the learning curve is steep or shallow. Of course, it depends on a person's grasping power as well.
That's all folks, hope you enjoy reading the article.
Please note that these are just some of the key points and not all of them when it comes to choosing the framework. The content in this blog is from my personal experience and learning, which might differ from others. Also, it depends on whether you are choosing a framework for learning or for a business project.
Happy learning :)