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34 Comments

What framework do you use on the front end?

Can’t wait to see what the results are!

If you have something to say about why you chose what you did write about it in the comments section. Make sure to specify what you voted so everyone knows.

What front end framework do you use?
  1. Alpine
  2. Angular
  3. React
  4. Svelte
  5. Vue
  6. Next
  7. Nuxt
Vote
  1. 13

    I know I'm the odd one out saying this, but I don't use any framework at all in my codebase (an e-commerce website, which is a domain where less-interactive, mostly HTML pages seem more acceptable compared with some slick SASS tool).

    My main way of interacting with the JavaScript in my code-base is by attaching data- attributes to HTML elements in my templates and then, when the page has been loaded, attaching handlers to elements with those data- attributes and/or HTML ids.

    I have a library of of simple functions to do things like grab form data, create and attach an element, do requests, etc. and I copy them into each codebase I work with.

    My business has been for a decade so I've been burned adding dependencies (like a JS framework). I'd rather have less external things I need to keep updated or replace over time.

    1. 5

      This, 💯!

      A lot of people don't realize this, but you don't need to add any framework or cruft from Facebook or Google (or anyone) into your app… this is specially important for indie-hackers who have to beat the odds w/o external funding!

      Exceptions aside, you don't wanna promote anything from the evil corporations that are designed to eat your lunch. Plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript are your true friends and powerful enough to launch with, grow into and scale up with to ride beyond the horizon. 🏇🏻 Use that fact to your advantage.

      1. 2

        See, I tend to swing the other way. Using CSS frameworks and similar "assistance" tooling is /more/ important for indie hackers and startups where first impression & speed to market are two of the most important things.

        Not using a framework means having to learn a lot more before you can produce anything tangible and leads to struggling with things like cross-browser compatibility and client-side security vulnerabilities such as XSS.

        By all means, if you are, or can afford to hire an experienced front ender then you can cut out a lot of fluff in your build process, but until then stick with what you can get free support with.

        Also, the question seems to focus on JavaScript frameworks, building something on the scale of Vue or React in plain JS is madness for anyone when what you're trying to achieve with these frameworks is a fluid user experience.

    2. 1

      I agree. This really needed an option "none".

      Many, many sites are built with only "JS sprinkles", i.e. lightweight libraries such as Stimulus.js, Turbolinks, etc. Alpine, which you did list, falls into this category, too.

      Many other sites are built with JS replacements like Phoenix LiveView, Laravel LiveWire, Opal, Blazor, Elm, Clojurescript, Reason, Kotlin, etc, etc.

    3. 1

      I am mindblown by this response. Never thought anyone would do it these days. I have recently came across data- attributes and looks like it's powerful. Can you share any guides to learn more about it?

      Thanks in advance 🌹

      1. 1

        I make programming screencasts and I'll certainly cover it in a future episode: https://www.semicolonandsons.com/

        The Rails docs on JS-integration have about a 60% overlap with how I do things: https://guides.rubyonrails.org/working_with_javascript_in_rails.html

        1. 1

          Thanks for sharing this resource. I see youngsters/students waste their prime time after the latest fad and i don't want to be one of them, rather i want to spend fruitfully in vanilla and do most of the stuffs there and jump to frameworks only when requirements arises, say a mobile app. Looking forward learning from the links you shared. We need more of this in todays world

  2. 2

    I don't get why React is so popular. It's a library not a framework. Angular is a framework. It's so easy to use. Angular 10 is by far the best.

  3. 2

    I love vue because of it's simplicity. I use it at work and my side projects. Currently I am building a template product with vue. However, I always wanted to try out React but never really had my hands dirty with it, so once I finish my project that I am currently working on with vue, I will rebuild it with react. Hopefully then I will be able to actually compare these two frameworks constructively.

    1. 2

      Webassembly or signalr ?

      1. 1

        I've used both server-side and client-side (webassembly). Both have pros and cons. Both communicate with the server using SignalR> I'm a C# dev so it makes web development fir into my workflow nicely. Also Vue from time to time.

  4. 2

    My goto-stack is React/Mobx/TypeScript. For some projects I am starting out using Svelte and Parcel. Parcel is really quick to get up and running with and Svelte is awesome.

  5. 2

    Kinda odd choices with vue/nuxt and react/next. Nuxt/Next are higher level frameworks for Vue/React.

    Anyhow, I extensively use vue for everything. For building sites, I use Nuxt.

  6. 2

    As an indie dev I like Stimulus.js and I pair it with Turbolinks. React at work, but then again, I don't do much of front-end at work in general.

  7. 1

    I have been seeing a lot of people talk about React and Vue lately. My product ruttl will soon start supporting different websites too!

  8. 1

    +1 for Vue.js. Love how fast I can develop with it.

  9. 1

    I'm using Gridsome! It's for static/JAMStack sites and similar to Gatsby, but based on Vue.js instead of React.

  10. 1

    I used to not use any framework just pure HTML/CSS/Javascript. Recently started learning ReactJS a few months ago and now its my default go to for starting new frontend websites. I can see why its pretty popular 😀

  11. 1

    I am equally as skilled in React as Angular, actually have done more projects in React for a longer period of time. I decided to do a project where I built out the back end and then built the same front end in React and Angular. Finished it 4-5 faster in Angular. After spending hundreds and hundreds of hours in both I can definitely say Angular is faster to build out apps in for me at least

  12. 1

    Shout out for Preact too! It's functionality identical to React and even supports React libraries. The bonus is it's 3kB tiny. You can also use 'class' instead of 'className'.

  13. 1

    Vue / React

    When it's a public website and needs SSR I will pair with Nuxt / Next. Nuxt is really good, even tho it started as a clone of Next, nowadays I think it's way more robust.

  14. 1

    React with gatsby. That way we have a very strong Seo and render time performance, but with the flexibility of single page apps!

    But the only thing that matters is to chose what you’re most efficient with. Even php if that’s your thing. Being fast and flexible is the most important.

  15. 1

    Currently using React, but I think I'm going to give Svelte a try next time I start building something new.

    A big reason is that I'm pretty conflicted on the push to React Hooks - I think they "simplify" code at the cost of greatly complicating the actual logic and locking code into being written in a fashion that understands the hook & rendering lifecycle. They work exceptionally well for simple situations, and exceptionally poorly for more complex ones.

  16. 1

    React + Redux + Bootstrap on Gatsby. Firebase backend.

  17. 1

    I like Vue without the need to learn build tools, npm, etc. You can get your hands dirty with CDN immediately, even for production.

  18. 1

    I used to be on the React/Redux camp, usually with Bootstrap or Bulma for CSS. I recently shifted to React/Zustand and also to Tailwind. I highly suggest anyone to try out Zustand if you are using Redux. There is a lot less boilerplate to app state management and my product has a lot of app state, and keeps growing.

  19. 1

    React for me. Lots of different open source add-ons which is why I 💗 it.

    1. 1

      Have you tried Vue?

      1. 1

        Yeah I have but IMO I think React we be more employable in the future for me.

    2. 0

      Same, I’m sure there are quote unquote better frameworks but the size of the community is arguably more important.

  20. 2

    This comment was deleted 2 years ago.

  21. 2

    This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

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