When you’re walking around the city and gazing at the cityscape, what catches your eye? The likelihood is that you will first be attracted to shop fronts that are well lit and beckon you with their reflective surfaces so as to make you want to go inside. As soon as you spot one that looks tempting, you open the door and go inside. That is how it works on the internet as well.
While surfing the Internet for things you need, you stumble upon the most engaging, captivating, and user-friendly site, open it, and there you are. At its core, a website’s front end is what you can see and interact with through a web browser, and the process of developing this visually appealing part is known as front-end development. Front-end development involves creating a user interface that users can see and interact with directly on a website or Web Application.
The biggest challenge associated with front-end development is the constant change in tools and techniques for developing a website’s front end, which requires the developer to constantly keep up with how the field is evolving.
To choose the best front-end technology, it is essential to brainstorm and compare the features of each technology. You are likely to be left scratching your head; therefore, we are providing you with a list of the top 10 Front end technologies you need to look out for in 2023.
However, before we go into these front-end technologies, let us first grasp the meaning of front-end development.
What is Front-End Development?
Have you ever wondered how a website works? The buttons you can click and the motions on a website are examples of front-end development. The visual appeal of every existing website or application you’ve seen has been brought to life by Front-End developers. The front-end layer enables you to interact with the web and perform desired actions, such as watching videos and shopping online, etc. To create the design, feel, and look of the web, three fundamental front-end programming languages are used: HyperText Markup Language (HTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and JavaScript.
Front-end development (Client-side development) is the process of using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create a graphical user interface for a website or web application so that users can interact with them. By using graphical methods, the complex backend portion is represented in an understandable way for the end-user. In the event that your application’s frontend works seamlessly, users are likely to love it and recommend it to others.
Front End Technologies
Front-end technologies are an essential part of any business that strives to enhance user interaction, efficiency, and the look and feel of their website or application. Development teams use front-end technologies to create a website’s design, structure, animation, and everything you see on the screen when you open it.
A great deal of front-end technology is used because it facilitates the work of web coders and designers, increases their productivity, and makes the development process quicker, simpler, and more effective. Every year, new tools are introduced, rendering the old ones obsolete. But, due to the exponential growth of front-end technologies over the past few years, it can be difficult for developers to keep up with the sheer amount of technology at their disposal.
Benefits of Front-End Technologies
- Reusable components and templates
- Streamline tasks with automation
- Optimize and debug your code
- Boosts developers’ productivity
- Streamline the development process for developers
- Comes in handy when you’re on a tight deadline
- Assist in the development of responsive designs, etc.
Top Front End Technologies
In the current spectrum of technologies, many frontend technologies in web and mobile are certain to shine in 2023. The following top 10 front-end technologies are set to dominate the market in 2023.
1. React.js
ReactJS, also known as React, is a well-known open-source JavaScript front-end library for creating dynamic and interactive applications and improving UI/UX design. Basically, it’s responsible only for the view layer. Facebook initially developed and maintained the technology, which was then used in some of its products, such as Instagram and WhatsApp. With frameworks such as Next.js, React can be utilized for developing single-page, mobile, or server-side applications. It allows code to be debugged more efficiently by separating it into components.
More than 220,000 websites currently utilize React. A few of the giants that use this platform for their applications/websites include Apple, PayPal, BBC, Dropbox, Reddit, and Netflix.
Key Features:
- The application built with ReactJS has a component-based architecture, meaning that it consists of several components, each with its own logic written in JS. The reusable nature of these components allows you to maintain the code when working on larger-scale projects.
- ReactJS is designed to support unidirectional data flow and one-way data binding. One-way data-binding gives you more control across your application.
- The Virtual DOM of React offers flexibility and speeds up app development. Document object models (DOMs) are APIs (Application programming interfaces) that manage how documents can be accessed and manipulated.
- JSX (JavaScript XML) is a markup syntax for describing the interface of an application. With JSX, you can write and add HTML structures easily in React.
- With declarative UI, React code can be more easily read and fixed. In terms of developing UIs that are exciting and engaging, React JS is the best choice not just for web applications but also for mobile applications.
2. Angular.js
AngularJS is an open-source Javascript front-end framework and is an integral part of the MEAN stack (MongoDB, Express.js, Angular, And Node.js). It is mostly used for developing single-page web applications (SPAs). Since it’s a flexible framework, developers can create progressive web apps or integrate the framework with technologies such as Ionic, Cordova, or NativeScripy to design near-native mobile applications.
The tool has inbuilt templates that make it easy for developers to build UI views quickly. AngularJS provides simple, fast data binding without developer intervention. By supporting caching, it reduces the CPU’s workload. It provides fast loading and less navigation, ensuring an effective user experience. Gmail, Forbes, Upwork, Deutsche Bank, etc., are some of the popular websites and applications built using Angular.js.
Key Features:
- With an Angular application, data binding is performed without the need to write any separate code. By adding a few snippets of code, we are able to connect data from the HTML control to the application data.
- An Angular application is not browser-specific, so there are no browser-specific constraints. Besides internet explorer 8.0, it runs on all major browsers and on mobile devices, including Android and iOS-based devices.
- A built-in dependency injection feature in AngularJS makes it easy to develop, test, and understand applications.
- A number of built-in services are available with AngularJS, such as $http to make XMLHttpRequests. They are singleton objects that are instantiated only once in the app.
- Furthermore, Angular’s templates make it possible to create a user interface views rapidly, which aids software development teams to become more productive.
3. Vue.js
The popular Javascript framework ‘Vue.js’ was created by Evan You and used to develop interactive UIs (User Interfaces) (UIs) and SPAs (Single-page applications). Vue.js is one of the best JavaScript frameworks for creating a lightweight and adaptable interactive UI elements. The MVVM model (Model View-View Model) architecture pattern and its lightweight nature make Vue.js extremely easy to implement.
HTML and CSS knowledge is required to use Vue.js. Also, Vue.js has a core library focused solely on the view layer. Frameworks like this can be seamlessly integrated into big projects for front-end development without causing any problems or issues. 9GAG, GitLab, Nintendo, Behance, and Laravel are some of the popular websites and applications built using Vue.js.
Key Features:
- VueJS provides computed properties, which enable you to detect changes made to UI elements and perform calculations accordingly. You do not have to add any additional code to do this.
- VueJS comes with several built-in directives for performing various tasks on the frontend, such as v-show, v-if, v-else, v-bind, v-model, and v-on.
- Watchers in Vue.js allow you to watch or monitor a component and perform specified actions when its values change. This is a more general way to watch and respond to data changes in a Vue instance. It is particularly useful when performing asynchronous operations.
- VueJS components allow you to create custom elements that you can reuse in HTML.
- Various transitions can be applied to HTML elements when they are added/updated/removed from the DOM (Document Object Model).
4. Flutter
Developed by Google, Flutter is an open-source, cross-platform UI framework that enables the development of flexible and native-like apps with the help of a singular codebase. This is one of the fastest-growing frontend frameworks for creating flexible and effective web designs. Its ability to create native capabilities and expressive elements on iOS and Android platforms is a major factor driving its popularity.
Flutter enables developers to create cross-platform apps quickly using the Dart programming language and the Skia graphical engine. Flutter – Dart makes it easy for developers to create apps fast. The Flutter framework is designed primarily for mobile applications running on both Android and iOS. A few of the giants that use this platform for their applications/websites include Google, Alibaba Group, Dream11, BMW, eBay, etc.
Key Features:
- Because Flutter is multiplatform, we can write the code once (single codebase), maintain it, and deploy it to multiple platforms and devices like mobile, web, desktop, and embedded devices.
- With Hot Reload, the developer can immediately see the results of their changes in the code. Changes are immediately reflected within the app. With Stateful Hot Reload, Flutter allows developers to build expressive UIs, full customizations, and native-like performance.
- Flutter applications are created with the Dart programming language, which utilizes JIT (Just-in-Time) compilation and AOT (Ahead-of-Time) compilation to improve startup times, functions, and performance.
- With this framework, you’ll be able to control your app’s codebase with automated testing, developer tools, and everything else you need to develop high-quality apps.
- Flutter provides widgets for developing customized specific designs. There are two sets of widgets in Flutter i.e., Cupertino and Material Design widgets that provide a glitch-free experience on any platform.
5. Bootstrap
Bootstrap is a free, open-source, and powerful front-end framework designed to create mobile-friendly, responsive websites and applications. Bootstrap includes CSS and JavaScript templates for typography, navigation, buttons, forms, and other important UI elements/components. This powerful toolkit contains HTML, CSS, and JavaScript tools to create front-end design elements of responsive websites quickly and easily. With its pre-built components, users can add themes and icons to their designs.
The Bootstrap framework was initially developed by Twitter and has become the most popular front-end framework available today. Bootstrap is very easy to use since developers only need basic HTML, CSS, and JS knowledge. A few of the giants that use this platform for their applications/websites include LinkedIn, Postman, Spotify, Twitter, Udemy, StackShare, Lyft, etc.
Key Features:
- Although Bootstrap is designed with responsive 12-column grids, components, and layouts, it is also very customizable. With a few tweaks, you can enable a fixed grid or a responsive one.
- Bootstrap also includes responsive utility classes. A responsive utility class can make a specific piece of content appear or hide only on specific devices, depending on the screen size. Web designers who want to create mobile or tablet-friendly versions of their websites will benefit greatly from this feature.
- In addition to LESS (Leaner Style Sheets) files, Bootstrap also includes old CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) files.
- By providing templates, Bootstrap enables inexperienced users to create a website easily through tutorials and demos.
- The Bootstrap framework contains a variety of components, such as navigation bars, progress bars, dropdowns, thumbnails, etc., that can easily be incorporated into your web page.
6. Ionic
Ionic is an open-source front-end framework that makes it possible to develop high-quality desktop and mobile apps (for iOS, Windows, and Android) using the same codebase. You can use this tool to develop hybrid mobile applications. This platform allows you to create applications using web technologies like HTML, CSS, and Javascript with integrations for well-known frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue. This framework offers a command-line interface that lets you develop the application without having to use any code.
Ionic provides a wide range of customizable themes and components that will enhance your application’s UI and attract more users. A few of the giants that use this platform for their applications/websites include Accenture, JustWatch, Digital Services, Diesel, AppsFlyer, PartsAvatar, etc.
Key Features:
- With the Ionic framework, designers can access different components using plugins, such as Cordova plugins. You can add valuable features to your applications by using these components.
- Ionic uses the same codebase to deliver a unified look and feel across all mobile platforms. From a single codebase, developers can create apps that work on all major app stores and the mobile web.
- Ionic provides developers with default CSS and JS parts for creating mobile applications. Although the default design covers most aspects, you can implement additional features to the predefined CSS classes as per your preferences.
- When combined with Angular, Ionic provides many functionalities to integrate attractive components into your application. With Angular JS, Ionic provides the ideal solution.
7. HTML5 Boilerplate
HTML5 Boilerplate is a leading front-end template for designing fast, robust, and adaptable web apps and websites with HTML5-ready features and elements. You can access a mobile-friendly HTML template, a placeholder touch-device icon, an optimized Google Analytics snippet, and docs covering dozens of additional tips. There is a new HTML5-ready alternative to CSS resets called Normalize.css, and a suite of base styles, media queries, helpers, and print styles as well. Neither is it a framework nor does it impose a particular development approach.
Instead, it is a collection of tools to help build cross-browser websites compatible with earlier browsers while still supporting HTML5. A few of the giants that use this platform for their applications/websites include Microsoft, Nike, NASA, ITV News, Creative Commons, Barack Obama, Australia Post, etc.
Key Features:
- In HTML5 Boilerplate, you will find all of the elements that you need to start, as well as a lot of supporting documentation such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, .htaccess (Apache webserver configuration), Miscellaneous (ignore file, gitignore, etc. ), and Crossdomain.xml.
- Also, HTML5 Boilerplate can be used with Initialize, which generates templates based on Boilerplate that let you choose what elements you want and those you don’t.
- Modernizr is also included so that you can style the new HTML5 elements in Microsoft Internet Explorer and detect HTML5 or CSS3 features in the older versions of Internet Explorer (before version 9).
- Boilerplate encourages the use of media queries tailored to each website’s content. Media queries can be edited or removed by those who do not support this approach.
8. Npm (Node Package Manager)
NPM, which stands for Node Package Manager, is a package manager completely written in javascript, and maintained by NPM, Inc. This is the default package manager for Node.js, which is the JavaScript runtime environment. The tool allows Node.js developers to discover, install, and develop Node programs, as well as discover reusable packages of code and reassemble them according to their priorities. It is considered to be the largest software registry in the world. npm is a command-line tool used to install, update, and uninstall Node.js packages and modules in an application.
Over 350,000 packages make npm an essential front-end tool for JavaScript developers looking to share their code and reuse that of other developers. A few of the giants that use this platform for their applications/websites include Uber, Netflix, LinkedIn, Trello, Twitter, PayPal, eBay, NASA, Yahoo, Walmart, GoDaddy, etc.
Key Features:
- NPM includes a command-line client, npm, as well as an NPM registry containing public and private packages. The registry is accessible through the client, and the packages and modules are searchable and browsed via the NPM website.
- With NPM, you can install only those modules you need for web development, not a bunch of features you may not need.
- Each package in the registry is in CommonJS format and includes a metadata file in JSON format. The main NPM registry contains more than 1.3 million packages.
- NPM version 6 introduced the audit feature to assist developers with identifying and fixing security vulnerabilities in installed packages.
- It provides dependency management and version control for Node.js packages.
9. Meteor
Meteor is a free, open-source, full-stack JavaScript framework that is built using Node.js. Since its inception in 2011, it has earned a reputation as an ideal, easy-to-use solution for rapid prototyping and developing cross-platform code (iOS, Web, Android). The array of packages provided, the node.js and MongoDB foundation it relies on, and the code flexibility it offers make Meteor an excellent tool for building robust, secure real-time web applications as well as handling everything from the browser applications to a database or server.
It is claimed that Meteor can be used for both the front-end and back-end development of mobile, web and desktop applications. Yet, building the entire application using only Meteor for multiple platforms might not be the most rational move. A few of the giants that use this platform for their applications/websites include Honeywell, Mixmax, IKEA, Dispatch, Lubert, Fantasy Biathlong, Wishlist, Hagglemate, etc.
Key Features:
- Several built-in features are included, including frontend libraries and a server that runs on NODE.js.
- Using the live reloading feature, you can refresh only the required DOM elements. Meteor performs live updates automatically, so changes in data are displayed immediately in your browser window, and even editing code is pushed to all browsers and mobile devices in real-time.
- With its ease of learning, you may focus more on the functionality of your application than the basics of syncing data and serving pages.
- Meteor provides built-in latency compensation, is easy to set up, and has a great number of easily deployable packages that can handle many different types of functionality.
- Likewise, Meteor can be easily integrated with various JavaScript libraries, including React and Bootstrap. Using Cordova, you can quickly turn any Meteor web app into a mobile app – both technologies are fully integrated.
10. Grunt
Grunt is a JavaScript task runner that can automate a range of tasks such as compilation, unit testing, minification, and linting. It uses the command-line interface to execute custom tasks that are specified in a Gruntfile. Grunt offers a great variety of bundled plugins to choose from, and it can automate any one of them with minimal effort.
Grunt is known for its highly customizable nature–it enables developers to add, modify and extend custom tasks to meet their individual needs; each task has a set of configuration options the user can adjust. Using this technology, developers can consolidate their workflows and increase project performance. A few of the giants that use this platform for their applications/websites include Bitovi, Adobe, Bootstrap, Twitter, jQuery, Opera, LiveChat, Walmart, Microsoft, Cloudant, etc.
Key Features:
- Grunt automates routine tasks.
- Grunt also allows you to create custom tasks, which can combine multiple existing tasks into one or add entirely new functionality.
- Grunt reduces the likelihood of encountering errors during repetitive tasks.
- You can extend the functionality of your plugins and scripts by using built-in tasks.
- You can choose from more than 5,000 plugins.
Conclusion
According to recent statistics from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of positions in web development will grow by 15% by 2026 compared to 2016. Usually, the salary range for Front-end Developers in India is between ₹ 1.8 – ₹ 13.2 Lakhs with an average of ₹ 4.5 Lakhs. The following are some of the key roles of a front-end developer:
- Front End Software Engineer
- Front End Developer
- Front End Engineer
- Junior Front End Developer
- Senior Front End Developer
- Front End Web Designer, etc.
With this in mind, you should be attentive to the front-end technologies that foster successful development. In order to choose front-end technologies, various factors should be considered, such as personal preferences, project deadlines, market timing, server-side rendering, mobile development, budgets, volumes, flexibility, productivity, futuristic support, and execution. It can be challenging to choose between development frameworks, especially with constant updates or new tools appearing.
As for 2023, the front-end technologies listed above will definitely keep the show running smoothly. Consider the front-end technologies outlined in this article, and make an informed decision. One thing to bear in mind is that there isn’t a single perfect framework. Each framework has its advantages and disadvantages. Hopefully, this article helped the reader to avoid getting lost in the forest of front-end development.
