Javascript Frameworks

[Jackolantern]

I asked this question before without much response, so I guess the answer back then was no, but I figured I would see if the answer has changed at all: Is anyone using or learning any Javascript frameworks, and if so, which one?

In just a few months, the JS framework landscape has changed a lot. There are now several major players: Backbone.js, Ember.js, KnockoutJS, AngularJS, AgilityJS, SpineJS, and Bootstrap (hey! One that doesn't end with "JS"!). There are more than that, but those are the common choices. There are now so many popular choices that one group created ToDo MVC, which creates the same app in many different frameworks so potential devs can compare the code.

So anyone using any of these? I am interested in digging more into Single-Page Applications (SPAs), and would love to hear about any experience.

[hallsofvallhalla]

I use bootstrap regularly. Very simple and streamline framework that is much like jquery ui

I have used several of the others but none really stuck.

[Darius]

I've played around with some.
But I usually never even get to use 10% of the features they offer ... so it's a little overkill.

[Jackolantern]

I was thinking of trying Backbone, since from the ToDoMVC project it seemed like the only one I could find that honored Unobtrusive Javascript. However, they didn't use Bootstrap for some reason. In Bootstrap, do you have to litter the DOM with custom attributes like so many of the other frameworks?

[hallsofvallhalla]

Bootstrap basically works just like Jquery UI. Lots of design and GUI functions.

[Jackolantern]

Does it not have models, views and controllers? I thought it was an MVC framework as well. If not, that would explain why it isn't represented on ToDoMVC.

[Chris]

Bootstrap isn't a JavaScript MVC framework, it's a UI framework with a responsive grid. Are you looking to start a MVVM project? MVC and JavaScript suck and is over bloated.

[a_bertrand]

Honestly I'm against most of the JS libs / framework out there. Why? Because they add quiet some overhead and at the end makes things usually harder to read than a plain JS code. But that's maybe because I'm an old monkey and don't want to fit in those standard boxes. For example jquery, beside offering a nice css selectors adds a lot of useless overhead, which I live very well without, yet most people would never code without jquery.

As always, I would say, define clearly what you need, before choosing any framework, then once you have the requirements, check if any of the framework fit your requirements and helps you. If not then go without.

[Jackolantern]

OK, that makes sense about Bootstrap then. Thanks Chris!

I love jQuery! But I am still not totally convinced about JS MVC frameworks. Something seems a bit fishy that so many of the demo apps are quite simple, but the code looks fairly complex. For example, some of the ToDo MVC sources are many fairly long files, when doing them with jQuery would take perhaps an hour or two. I am just interested in looking into them further. I am not sure why they would have gained such a massive following who swear by them if all they do is bog you down with more work.

[Chris]

I think Knockout is probably the best one out there. It's included as standard in a .NET MVC 4 project.

http://addyosmani.com/blog/understandin ... evelopers/