Web App Frameworks Documentation

The Current State of Web App Frameworks Documentation – And The Future Expectations

With most online interactions, it’s only reasonable for web developers to focus more on creating web products such as Progressive Web Apps (PWAs). 

Web App development depends on many things, expert-level web development knowledge notwithstanding. There are tools and resources that developers rely on for creating and managing websites and web apps referred to as frameworks. 

What Are The Benefits of Web App Frameworks? 

Web apps are built on two frameworks: back-end (server-side) and front-end (client-side). The back end is the sophisticated development side that has to align with the server’s architecture for the web app to function correctly. Conversely, these front-end frameworks make development output more accessible to non-technical users. 

Developers rely on different types of frameworks, depending on the type of web app you need. But how many do you know of? How well are they documented? What does the future look like? This article delves deep into all that for you.

Back-End Web App Frameworks

1. Express 

An unopinionated framework with a minimalist theme. Express happens to be heavily commercialized by backend developers to customize the serverside framework of web apps. 

Express frameworks flourish in the node.js environment, along with popular frameworks such as IBM and Accenture. The Express API is frequently updated; you can find the latest release here. 

2. Django

Tech giants like Google and Instagram rely on Django for their backend frameworks. This should tell you that it is the perfect framework and a high value incorporating vital features such as security and speed. 

The server side of web apps is built on Django frameworks using Python. By the time this article was posted, this was the current Django documentation. 

3. Rails

Rails is a Model-View-Controller framework that uses Ruby as the primary coding language. Most web apps, such as Airbnb, GitHub, and Dribble, have their server-side framework based on Rails. 

Although Rails is a beginner-friendly framework, it has the disadvantage of deployment in an execution environment. However, the framework is insanely customizable and usable. Check the latest release as of December 2019 

4. Laravel

Laravel is a Model-View-Controller framework that uses PHP, one of the most popular web languages. It’s relatively young compared to other frameworks on this list.

Laravel comes with API support that is out of the box and possesses a decent number of packages that could extend its reach. Laracasts is a screencast tutorial website with over a thousand videos on PHP, Laravel, and frontend technologies in the Laravel ecosystem that could be considered a beginner’s heaven. In terms of performance, however, Laravel doesn’t compare to Django or Express, which might be a drawback for massive projects.

Frontend Web App Frameworks

1. Angular 

When looking for the best Single-Page Web Apps, consider the Angular framework. As a Google product, you expect several benefits from having a web app client-sides’ built on Angular.

Developers continually improve the framework to ensure we build web apps that will render entirely on multiple browsers. For that reason, here is the current documentation of Angular.

2. React

You will be justified in arguing that React is not a framework but a library. However, it contains tools and resources that developers need to create server-side and client-side frameworks – yes, React can work for both frontend and backend web app development. But that’s beside the point. Its primary advantage is the component re-usability feature. This feature is aided by the framework’s flexibility to design individual web app components. 

3. Vue

Note that we only sampled the most commonly used frameworks for this post. That makes Vue a great front-end framework alternative for web apps. We rely on Vue frameworks to create aesthetic web app User Interfaces. 

For its progressive feature, we can incorporate it into an already-running project and still maintain the initial design needed. These are the current commits on GitHub for Vue.

How Well Are The Frameworks Documented?

With tools like GitHub, GitLab, and Dribble becoming accessible worldwide, software and web developers are getting things done more effectively. 

This is not just hearsay. It could be very hard for every developer to design a code for a web app from scratch. With these platforms serving as libraries for documentation versions of the frameworks, it becomes easy to work on projects.

The framework developers also have their documentation systems on their websites that developers download and start building on. This makes accessing the tools and resources to deliver your project conveniently easy and fast.

What To Expect In The Future?

No one is precisely wary of the future, but trends never lie. More so, someone said the best way to predict the future is to invent it. As the demand for more elements in the online world rises, focusing on interactability and usability becomes imperative. 

Web apps bridge the gap between access and convenience. Regardless of the web app’s design goal, you must ensure the user is content with the services. Therefore, as more people move to the internet, features like security must be considered in web app development. 

Most tech startups are focused on providing seamless experience through their web apps. That is a good thing. However, as experience has already been taken care of, it’s time to shift focus. With Web 2.0 being the new norm, web apps will likely demand more personnel for development. This is due to the need to incorporate multiple features and paradigms to promote interactability. 

For example, team collaboration software built as web apps needs extensive coding; thus, more developers will be needed for the project. 

These are just a handful of what to expect regarding the future of web app development and framework tooling.

To Sum Up

These are certainly not the only frameworks you will find most developers using. Although, for the most part, you expect to find them as suggestions based on the goal of your web app. With their documentation and open source readily available for the public domain, it becomes convenient for us to rely on them.

Considering the popularity web apps have gained in a short period, it’s safe to conclude that they will revolutionize the internet soon. Uber’s PWA had to cut its load speed to reach broader markets. What does that tell you? The usability and interactability of web apps are essential.