JavaScript frameworks exist as a tool for developers to abstract away some of the more complex aspects of developing front-end applications. And while frameworks have undeniably been very useful tools, advances in JavaScript’s web component specs have made developing new front-end applications (such as single-page applications) without existing frameworks much easier. This has raised the question of whether frameworks are still even necessary.  

Let’s take a look at the most popular JavaScript frameworks today and examine where they fall down. You don’t have to look far for this, because most of the frameworks in use today suffer from a number of fundamental flaws.

Most of us who and yes, I’m among that group) don’t notice those flaws, of course, because we are so used to them. It’s been a devil’s bargain: we appreciated the ease of development that the abstractions gave us, but overlooked the messy JavaScript that they produced. But the simple fact is that most of the frameworks we use are bloated libraries that manage complex processes that JavaScript was not designed for or shortcuts that make debugging code harder.

In addition to these issues, there is another, more important problem: there is actually no good definition of what constitutes a JavaScript framework in the first place. This has led to a somewhat absurd situation in which one of the most popular JavaScript “frameworks”—React—isn’t really a framework at all (no wonder it’s still popular). At best, it’s a library that developers use to build their own, highly-specialized JavaScript frameworks.

All of these issues are manifest in the most popular frameworks being used today. But there are also a number of specific issues that affect individual frameworks. So let’s take a quick look at each in turn.

JavaScript frameworks exist as a tool for developers to abstract away some of the more complex aspects of developing front-end applications. And while frameworks have undeniably been very useful tools, advances in JavaScript’s web component specs have made developing new front-end applications (such as single-page applications) without existing frameworks much easier. This has raised the question of whether frameworks are still even necessary.  

Let’s take a look at the most popular JavaScript frameworks today and examine where they fall down. You don’t have to look far for this, because most of the frameworks in use today suffer from a number of fundamental flaws.

Most of us who and yes, I’m among that group) don’t notice those flaws, of course, because we are so used to them. It’s been a devil’s bargain: we appreciated the ease of development that the abstractions gave us, but overlooked the messy JavaScript that they produced. But the simple fact is that most of the frameworks we use are bloated libraries that manage complex processes that JavaScript was not designed for or shortcuts that make debugging code harder.

In addition to these issues, there is another, more important problem: there is actually no good definition of what constitutes a JavaScript framework in the first place. This has led to a somewhat absurd situation in which one of the most popular JavaScript “frameworks”—React—isn’t really a framework at all (no wonder it’s still popular). At best, it’s a library that developers use to build their own, highly-specialized JavaScript frameworks.

All of these issues are manifest in the most popular frameworks being used today. But there are also a number of specific issues that affect individual frameworks. So let’s take a quick look at each in turn.