Seeking a JavaScript Framework (Part 2: Reviews)

Posted At : January 14, 2025 10:00 AM | Posted By : Steve
Related Categories: JavaScript

Last time, I covered what I want from a JavaScript framework (and a bit about why). I don't want to rehash all of that (you could read the entry if you cared), but let's start with the table of what I want from the end of the previous entry.

Criteria	Desired
Runs in Browser?	Yes
Progressive Enhancement	Yes
Proper Separation of Concerns	Yes
Enforce SPA?	No
Strategy	Declarative
Dom Manipulation	Direct
Scale	Small

The 10 Best Frameworks of 2024

At least according to hackr.io

That seems like as good a place to start as any. I'm not going to go into great detail about any of these or this would take too long.

React

Criteria	Desired	React
Runs in Browser?	Yes	Yes
Progressive Enhancement	Yes	No
Display	HTML	JavaScript
Enforce SPA?	No	No
Style	CSS	CSS
Strategy	Declarative	Declarative
Dom Manipulation	Direct	Virtual
Scale	Small	Big
Behavior	JavaScript	JavaScript
Data	HTML	JavaScript

I can really see why a lot of people like React. It really includes everything you need to solve big problems.

In fairness, I do think it could do Progressive Enhancement if I was doing JavaScript on the back-end as well, but I'm not.

Ultimately, React is built to solve a different problem than I'm trying to solve. It would be a great choice for anyone wanting to write a full-blown web app.

For those of us just wanting to organize a little bit of JavaScript that we are adding to our pages, though, it is a poor fit.

Express

Express is a Node.js framework. Not what I'm looking for.

Next.js

Next.js is also for Node.js. Not what I'm looking for.

Vue.js

I spent a bit of time looking at Vue.js and it really is very nice. It is declarative and easy to follow. Much of the definitions are right in the HTML. Very, very tempting. But let's see how it actually stacks up on the chart.

Criteria	Desired	Vue.js
Runs in Browser?	Yes	Yes
Progressive Enhancement	Yes	No
Display	HTML	Template
Enforce SPA?	No	No
Style	CSS	CSS
Strategy	Declarative	Declarative
Dom Manipulation	Direct	Direct
Scale	Small
Behavior	JavaScript	JavaScript
Data	HTML	HTML

I really like Vue. It has a really nice syntax. I think Progressive Enhancement is too important to me to sacrifice, but it is worth considering.

For anyone who has similar criteria to me but without a strong need for progressive enhancement, I would highly recommend taking a look at Vue.

Angular

The two-way data binding of Angular is really nice.

Criteria	Desired	Angular
Runs in Browser?	Yes	Yes
Progressive Enhancement	Yes	No
Display	HTML	JavaScript
Enforce SPA?	No
Style	CSS
Strategy	Declarative	Declarative
Dom Manipulation	Direct
Scale	Small	Big
Behavior	JavaScript	JavaScript
Data	HTML	JavaScript

Angular is really nice as well. If I were trying to find a JavaScript framework to write a full-blown web application this would be high on my list.

As I am just trying to write regular web pages with a little bit of JavaScript, though, this just isn't the right tool for that job.

Node.js

This is just for the server-side code, so not a match for what I need.

Svelte

Another one where the syntax is really quite great. Let's see what the chart says.

Criteria	Desired	Svelte
Runs in Browser?	Yes	Yes
Progressive Enhancement	Yes	No
Display	HTML	JavaScript
Enforce SPA?	No
Style	CSS	JavaScript
Strategy	Declarative	Declarative
Dom Manipulation	Direct	Direct
Scale	Small
Behavior	JavaScript	JavaScript
Data	HTML	JavaScript

Svelte is another framework that seems like a good tool to solve different problems than what I am trying to solve.

I would guess this would be a great fit for JavaScript-centric projects that maybe aren't as big as one where Angular or React would be a good fit.

Nest.JS

This is just for the server-side code.

Nuxt.js

It looks like server-side Vue.js.

jQuery

This is basically what I've been using before starting this search. Let's see how it stacks up.

Criteria	Desired	jQuery
Runs in Browser?	Yes	Yes
Progressive Enhancement	Yes	Yes
Display	HTML	HTML
Enforce SPA?	No	No
Style	CSS	CSS
Strategy	Declarative	Procedural
Dom Manipulation	Direct	Direct
Scale	Small
Behavior	JavaScript	JavaScript
Data	HTML	HTML

Pretty good match, really. Which explains why I've been using it so long. It just doesn't enforce any organizational patterns.

Summary

	In Browser	PE	Separation	Enforce SPA	Strategy	DOM	Scale
Target	Yes	Yes	Display: HTML Style: CSS Action: JS Data: HTML	No	Declarative	Direct	Small
React	Yes	No	Display: JS Style: CSS Action: JS Data: JS	No	Declarative	Virtual	Large
Express	No
Next.js	No
Vue.js	Yes	No	Display: Template Style: CSS Action: JS Data: ???	No	Declarative	Direct
Angular	Yes	No	Display: JS Style: JS Action: JS Data: JS		Declarative		Big
Svelte	Yes	No	Display: JS Style: JS Action: JS Data: JS
Nest	No
Nuxt	No
jQuery	Yes		Display: HTML Style: CSS Action: JS Data: HTML	No	Procedural	Direct

So it looks like none of the really popular frameworks align with what I want. This could certainly be a sign that my goals are flawed.

I really don't think that they are though. The big mismatch tends to be progressive enhancements. I think I should write more later on why I think this is so important and why I think so many frameworks miss on this.

Is it hopeless?

Tune in next week to see what I figured out to meet my goals.