A Comprehensive Guide To Web Application Frameworks

Nowadays, the importance of web application frameworks has skyrocketed with the high demand for web applications to fulfill various business needs. On the other hand, the complexity of current web applications is increasing daily with the advancement of technology and the invention of new web standards. Due to all these reasons, many web developers tend to go ahead with web application development using a reliable web framework as a feasible approach.

In this post, we will discuss these web application frameworks in detail, including their definition, types, and importance. Finally, we will introduce a few reputed web frameworks that are currently available on the market.

What Are Web Frameworks?

A web framework is a piece of software created to facilitate the development of web applications such as web resources, web services, and web APIs. They simplify and standardize the development process while offering the necessary tools and resources for it. Web frameworks usually support one or multiple programming languages to support rapid development while minimizing the complexities associated with coding. All in all, web frameworks lay a robust foundation for your web development projects with a set of predefined configurations.

Types Of Web Framework

Usually, web development frameworks boil down into two categories based on the area in developers use them. We use front-end web frameworks to develop the client-side of the application, which is accessible to common users. We also call them client side frameworks.

On the other hand, we use back-end frameworks to develop the underlying functionality of web applications. We call them backend frameworks. Now, let’s dig a bit deeper into these two types of frameworks.

Frontend Web Framework

As mentioned above, front-end frameworks are responsible for managing the outer part of a web app. It can include tasks such as the design of user interfaces, handling user experience, building reusable components, performance, and SEO optimization.

These client side frameworks are often composed of three core technologies called HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.  React.js, Vue.js, Angular, Ember.js, and Bootstrap are some renowned front-end frameworks.

Backend Web Framework

On the flip side, back-end frameworks, which are also known as server-side frameworks, manage the outer part of a web app. They offer all the necessary tools and libraries to manage the background functionality of your apps. Apart from that, their duties also extend to database management, URL routing, building the application architecture, server management, and security. Ruby on Rails, Django, Express, Spring, and ASP.NET are some great examples of backend frameworks.

Importance Of Framework

Web application frameworks bring significant benefits to both web developers and users. They make the lives of developers easier by providing a pre-defined codebase and a set of guidelines for web development. Thus, developers don’t have to code everything from scratch and can use the standard templates provided by the framework. Furthermore, web frameworks provide tools and packages to speed up development and easily incorporate advanced functionality into web apps.

Apart from that, web frameworks provide a responsive development environment and enhance the quality and readability of code. It contributes a lot towards improving code efficiency. They also include many useful features like live reload and hot reload for faster development. 

Many web frameworks facilitate code reusability, allowing developers to use the same code base for developing many apps. It saves a great deal of development time by eliminating the need to rewrite complex code structures with thousands of code lines. These web frameworks even automate essential development tasks such as URL mapping, caching, and session management, leading to a more efficient development process.

Frameworks also play a key role when it comes to the debugging and maintenance of web applications. Some frameworks come with built-in support for QA testing and debugging.

Ultimately, web development frameworks help deliver more quality web apps with reduced time-to-market. The apps built using web development frameworks also have much tighter security due to the built-in security offered by the framework. These security features help protect your apps against common cyberattacks such as DDoS attacks, SQL injections, and data breaches.

Different Web Frameworks

In this section, let’s go through some popular web frameworks loved by developers across the world.

Sencha Ext JS

Ext JS by Sencha is a famous front-end framework based on JavaScript. It helps to create responsive and sophisticated UIs for web development. This framework follows the MVC/MVVM architecture. Furthermore, it is compatible with all the major browsers, such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari 6+, Opera 12+, and IE 6+.

It is super easy to create web applications with Sencha, as it provides 140+ UI components that are ready to use straight away. This framework also includes a wide range of tools such as Sencha Architect, ExtGen, Sencha Themer, and Inspector to build high quality apps. Additionally, the Sencha community has developed many user extensions that can be used to improve your web application.

Earlier, Ext JS was mainly designed for developing desktop applications, while Sencha Touch was used for mobile apps. However, the latest version of Ext JS, which is version 6, has enabled developing both desktop and mobile applications using a single codebase. Developers can even integrate ML and AI into their apps using this excellent framework. It is achieved by calling Google natural language APIs through the framework.

Laravel

Laravel is a famous open-source PHP web framework that follows the model view controller architecture. It is a feature rich framework with an elegant and expressive syntax. Laravel contains many packages that can be used to extend the functionality of your apps. It also offers various tools for the deployment and maintenance of apps. This framework is well-known for its rich ecosystem, which includes many tools and libraries to aid faster app development. This way, Laravel facilitates enterprise web application development out-of-the- box. It surpasses its predecessor, CodeIgniter, with great features such as user authorization and authentication.

Django

Django is a very popular server side web framework based on Python. This framework is well-suited for database-driven apps due to its rich features, scalability, and versatility. It is very useful for rapid application development and also includes many security features. Developers can utilize this framework for developing complex and large-scale web apps and websites. Proving that, several big names in the industry, such as Google, Instagram, and Youtube, have used the Django framework for their products. 

ASP.net

Microsoft introduced ASP.net for developing robust web applications for desktops as well as mobile devices. It utilizes the.net and C# programming languages to create web applications. Developers can use ASP.net for creating interactive UIs with Blazer. You can also use ASP.NET as a full stack framework by combing  C# with HTML, CSS, and JS with it.

Cross-platform compatibility, less coding, easy maintenance, and high performance are some of the greatest advantages of ASP.net. It comes with many advanced features, such as bi-directional communication between server and client and the ability to use patterns of asynchronous programming. It is an appropriate web framework for building progressive web apps, web services, IOT apps, and mobile backends.

Angular

Angular is a front-end framework commonly used for building rich single page applications. Google first introduced Angular in 2010, and it has since progressed as an open-source project. The initial release of Angular was based on JavaScript, while the latter versions adopted TypeScript (a superset of JavaScript). Angular is a great choice for building robust client side applications. It also has strong developer support and excellent documentation. You can also find many resources on the internet for learning Angular. However, it also comes with some downsides, such as the large size of the framework and not being SEO friendly.

Ruby on Rails

This is one of the highly efficient server-side web application frameworks that facilitates rapid application development. It is built on top of the Ruby programming language and was initially released in 2004 by David Heinemeier Hansson. This framework supports the MVC pattern and contains numerous libraries to provide all the necessary tools for development. It is a beginner-friendly framework that allows new developers to quickly catch up with the development.

Ruby on Rails follows proper technical strategies such as migration, scaffolding, and simple database creation. It is a leading framework that has inspired many newer frameworks. UrbanDictionary, Shopify, AirBnb, and Github are some popular brands that use Ruby on Rails.

Final Thoughts

A web development framework is a great asset that aids and simplifies building web apps in an effective way. However, selecting the right framework for your web project can be a daunting task with the increased number of web frameworks present, each with various features and functionality. I hope this guide gave you a proper understanding of different types of web frameworks and what to expect from them. It will help you build your web application better and faster with the right framework.

Stuck with creating a modern web app for your business?

Try Sencha Ext JS and feel the difference