10 Top Trending Front-end Development Frameworks

Mobile applications have become an integral part of our lives today. You use your smartphone to book a ride, flight, or appointment, connect with friends and family, and much more. This is why we say we’re living in the digital era. 

One comes across many front-end development frameworks today, which is evidence of the increasingly competitive nature of the IT industry.

Companies with mobile or web applications and those looking to build one for themselves need a comprehensive understanding of the app development industry.  

Building a viable mobile application without understanding the latest technologies, frameworks, and trends in the app development sector is impossible.

This article explains what mobile application development frameworks are, the trends in front-end development, and the top 10 front-end frameworks today.  

A Word on Mobile App Development Frameworks

As stated earlier, mobile applications have become essential drivers of business growth due to the rise of digital technologies. All businesses, except for maybe the small-time retailers at the corner of your street, need mobile applications to enable improved business outcomes.  

Building an app is not rocket science, yet it requires meticulous planning if you want to have a good one. It would be best to ascertain what your customers want, your unique offerings, and how you can use an app to deliver better customer experiences.   

Mobile app development frameworks are software frameworks designed to facilitate mobile application development.

It is a library offering tools like programming interfaces, debugging tools, compilers, etc. In other words, it’s a complete structure of capabilities that enables application development for a given platform or environment.  

You only need to have a sound understanding of programming languages like CSS, HTML, JavaScript, etc., to build an application for Android or iOS devices. 

Top Front-end Development Trends

1. Micro Front-end Architecture  

Micro front-end architecture refers to extending the concept of microservices to front-end development. It enables you to build a feature-rich single-page application that sits atop the microservices architecture.   

Microservices architecture is a variant of the SOA structural style. It enables you to build an application as a set of fine-grained, loosely coupled services that communicate via lightweight protocols.  

In a micro front-end architecture-based application, an application is perceived as a set of features, each of which is owned and managed by separate, independent teams.

Thus, it requires a cross-functional team composed of different skill sets and responsibilities. The goal is to avoid having a front-end monolith, which becomes increasingly difficult to manage over time.   

Thus, this architectural approach to app development lets you decouple a full-scale application into manageable micro apps. Its benefits include reduced deployment issues, quicker app development, and greater versatility in framework preferences. 

2. Component-Driven Development   

Component Driven Development (CCD) is closely linked to the concept of microservices. It is based on the concept of structuring an app around components or modules. The idea is that each component of the application serves a specific purpose within its design.  

Thus, you can manage the component separately or even remove it entirely without causing any hiccups in the production environment. It offers you scalability, improved development speed, and standardization for web app development.  

3. JAMStack  

JAMstack is an architectural approach that stands for JavaScript (programming language for front-end functions), APIs (to request content from third parties), and Markup (to structure content on the webpage) (JAM).   

It uses an API to generate content instead of implementing a back-end solution. JAMStack is used to build static web pages and can be used with any framework. It offers you improved flexibility, performance, scalability, and maintenance.   

Top 10 Front-end Development Frameworks 

1. React Native

React Native is undoubtedly one of the most popular front-end development frameworks today. It is a free, open-source, cross-platform application development framework created by Meta (Facebook) to help you develop high-performing Android and iOS applications.  

React uses its own Document Object Model (DOM) that ensures your app continuously performs well at scale. And since React follows a component-based structure, it means the development process is accessible for multiple teams.  

Pros  

• Easy to use due to a vibrant and large community that shares React knowledge through online tutorials, courses, etc.  
• A component-based approach enables it to define and reuse the component as needed.  
• SEO-friendly.  
• Version Control gives notices on outdated code structure.  

Cons  

• Documentation may seem inadequate for beginners.  
• It is only used for user interface (UI) development.  
• Not ideal for small projects.  
• It is up to you to decide on the structure and style guide.  

2. Angular

Angular is known for the flexibility it offers in building single-page applications. It also uses a component-based approach to application development. Angular also adds a template system that handles the components.  

The best thing about Angular is that you can use it to create apps for multiple platforms simultaneously. Code can be used again to be implemented in mobile, web, or native apps. Angular is optimized via Web Workers and SSR.   

Pros  

• MVC architecture.  
• Dynamic scaling of apps via modular templating.  
• In-built state management, routing, services, and much more.  
• Cross-platform app development.  

Cons  

• Steep learning curve.  
• Not ideal for small-scale apps.  
• Inefficient for SEO due to the progressive web app nature.  
• Not the most sought-after framework these days.  

3. Vue

Vue is an excellent choice for modern app development, particularly after its latest release, Vue 3. This new release offers many improvements, such as the new build toolchain that utilizes Vite.  

It also offers a modernized documentation process and better state management via Pinia. Moreover, Vue is famous for giving you the flexibility to decide what you wish to build.

For instance, you can develop and structure web components that can be reused in different development stacks.  

Additionally, you can use Vue to work on single-page application projects since it offers DevTools, CSR, testing tools, and support for TypeScript.  

Pros  

• Enables reactive data binding for real-time applications.  
• You can easily reuse app components.  
• It is easy to use for beginners.  
• It offers Vue CLI for tooling.  

Cons  

• Cross-platform development may be complex.  
• It comes with a language constraint since Chinese developers initially developed it.  
• It has fewer plugins.   
• The programming community does not widely use it.  

4. Svelte

Svelte is an open-source, JavaScript-based framework. It is used to build interactive web pages and is similar to other frameworks since it follows a component-based approach. These components are used to structure an application’s user interface (UI).  

The essential difference between Svelte and React is that you do not need to completely transfer the former to the browser. Instead, Svelte apps are assembled, which means that the components are turned into a pre-made JS file.   

Moreover, Svelte does not use the virtual DOM to make changes. It assembles them with their DOM node pre-assigned. Also, Svelte is highly compatible with native HTML code.  

Pros  

• Requires less code.  
• Its in-built compiler results in better performance.  
• Code is written in CSS, HTML, TS, or native JavaScript.  
• Style scoping is linked to each component separately.  

Cons  

• Not the ideal framework for cross-platform app development.  
• It has a relatively smaller community of users.  
• Its compiler-based approach may impede scalability.  
• Lacks IDE support.  

5. jQuery 

jQuery is one of the earliest front-end frameworks introduced in 2006. However, it is as significant in the tech world as it was back then. It is a popular framework that developers widely use.

It is a very easy-to-learn JavaScript library that simplifies HTML document manipulation and animations. Its core ability lies in optimizing the functionality and interactivity of a website. 

Pros 

• Creates dynamic content. 

• Simplifies HTTP requests. 

• Compatible with many legacy systems. 

• Requires little programming knowledge. 

• Open-source platform with a large community. 

• Easily adds or removes elements with DOM flexibility. 

Cons 

• Comparatively slower compared to more advanced options. 

• Better options are available for building modern web applications. 
• APIs of DOM are obsolete. 

6. Backbone.JS

Backbone is one of the easiest frameworks to use. It is a lightweight and minimalist JavaScript library developed in 2010. Backbone is most widely used for creating single-page applications. 

It converts the developer’s data into easy-to-create and manage models. In this way, any change to the UI changes an element of the model. This event-driven architecture is suitable for building small applications that require flexibility. 

Pros 

• It is the fastest JavaScript framework. 

• It is very easy to learn. 

• Lightweight framework. 

• Allows freedom to choose your tools and libraries. 

Cons 

• It is not suitable for applications that need component-based architecture.  

• It has to transcribe boilerplate code. 

• It does not offer two-way binding for data. 

7. Ember

Ember is a JavaScript framework that is quite popular in the web development community and has been around for quite some time. It uses the MVC pattern to develop apps and can be used to build mobile and desktop apps.  

Ember is actively being developed; the Ember 4.0 release comes with new features to keep pace with recent front-end development trends. It ensures that your code stays intact when significant changes occur in the framework itself.  

Pros 

• It is one of the fastest frameworks. 

• It has comprehensive documentation. 

• It allows two-way data binding. 

• It is ideal for large-scale apps that require stability and long-term support. 

Cons 

• It is difficult to learn with a complex syntax. 

• It is not widely used with a small community. 

• Its updates are slow. 

• Its not suitable for small applications. 

8. Semantic-UI 

Semantic-UI is a relatively new framework that was released in 2014. Yet, it has quickly gained popularity for front-end web development.

It is supported by LeSS and jQuery frameworks. Semantic UI allows developers to create a natural language that makes the code self-explanatory. 

Additionally, it has an intuitive and modern user interface. These features make it easy for beginners to learn. 

Pros 

• Simple and easy-to-learn framework. 

• It is one of the latest frameworks available. 

• It has rich UI components and tools that can configure CSS and JavaScript. 

• It allows code sharing with other applications. 

• It is ideal for rapid prototyping and maintaining a consistent design. 

Cons 

• It requires prior knowledge of JavaScript. 

• It has a larger package. 
• It is not suitable for building application logic. 

9. Foundation 

Foundation is a flexible and responsive front-end framework developed by ZURB. It provides pre-built UI designs, a grid system, and cross-browser compatibility. However, it is mainly oriented toward enterprise-level website development and is intended for experienced developers. 

Its advanced features provide fast GPU acceleration and mobile rendering. Foundation has data-interchange attributes that load lightweight sections and heavy sections separately based on device size. 

Pros 

• It creates agile and responsive websites. 

• It is widely used at enterprise-level. 

• It provides HTML5 library authentication. 

• It allows customization of UX based on device and media type. 

• It is ideal for mobile-first web applications. 

Cons 

• It has a steep learning-curve for beginners. 
• It is complex and has limited community support.

10. Preact 

Preact is another JavaScript library that is a faster and lighter alternative to React. It offers similar functionalities as React but with a much more compact size –3kB compared to React’s 45kB. Preact includes a virtual DOM, component-based architecture, and server-side rendering. 

It doesn’t require converting the code into another language to interact with other libraries. With some adjustments, it allows developers to use existing React components. 

Pros 

• It is a smaller alternative for React. 

• It is portable and ideal for building app parts without integration. 

• It is easy to learn and has a well-designed command-line. 

• It is ideal for building applications where performance is the main concern. 

Cons 

• It works with ES6 components only  

• It has no support for refs so far. 

• It has a small community of developers. 

• It does not support React prototype. 

Conclusion  

All these front-end development frameworks are great, but developers use them for different purposes. The vital thing to see here is that all developers want to simplify app development for themselves.

Some trends suggest that developers are losing interest in AngularJS, Vue, and React.  

Other alternatives, like Solid and Lit, are gaining more favor amongst developers. However, that’s not to say that Vue, React, and Angular are about to go out of business. It’s just that new front-end frameworks are also becoming popular now.

If you want to build an interactive, robust enterprise application, contact us at [email protected].