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JavaScript is one of the international benchmarks in project programming. It is used for web page and application development, server and database management… A professional who masters JavaScript can become a full-stack developer, i.e. one capable of taking charge of the entire web development stack. A ‘jack of all trades’ profile within the sector.
As proof of its power, in the latest TIOBE report on the most widely used programming languages for developers, JavaScript ranks once again among the 10 top choices for professionals, behind general-purpose languages like Java, C, C++, Objective-C and PHP; easy-to-learn languages such as Python; and .NET app programming languages like Visual Basic.
This is intended to be a list of tools and libraries for JavaScript developers that are useful for everyday programming of web projects:
1. Frameworks
A server-side framework that enables programmers to create web applications with Node.js. It is a highly flexible and agile development framework with a community of programmers who improve the product and help use it, with a great deal of additional documentation on platforms like GitHub. It is also a solid, stable and easy to use framework. It is inspired in Sinatra, the development framework for Ruby.
Some of its main features include:
– It enables APIs to be created in an accessible way.
– It offers a URL router.
– It uses Jade as a base framework, but JavaScript libraries such as jQuery and Backbone.js can be incorporated to add new functionality to the development framework.
Angular.js is an open-source and completely free JavaScript framework that enables the development of client-side web applications and uses a Model-View-View Model development pattern. Google is behind its launch and maintenance, thus becoming a stable and solid option, with constant documentation, for the developer community.
Angular.js is used for developing single-page web applications (SPAs). Its key features are:
– Bidirectional data-binding system. The Model and the View are always updated in sync with any change in the data.
– It has a Dependency Injection pattern.
– Any application developed in AngularJS is compatible with several browsers. JavaScript adapts to each one.
Ember.js is a JavaScript framework that enables any developer to create client-side, single-page web applications. It is open-source and uses a Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern. Some of the key features of this development framework are:
– Automatic modification between the JavaScript objects and the DOM: this relationship between data that expedites the development of applications is due to the integration of the Handlebars.js library.
– Classes and procedures for easy rendering of apps.
– It has a system of templates for programming the application's HTML. This system is called HTMLbars and would be the variation of the Handlebars library's DOM.
Knockout.js is a development framework based on a Model-View-View Model (MVVM) pattern. It is open-source, under an MIT license.
Any developer wishing to start using it for developing a user interface has tutorials and documentation on the framework's own website. Some of its key features are:
– It facilitates the development of declarative bindings.
– Dependency monitoring: it enables updating of the changes in the View and the Model-View for all independent objects and elements.
– System of templates.
– Automatic user interface updating based on the changes made by the developer in the Model-View.
2. JS Libraries
This is the most widely used JavaScript library among developers. It enables simple interaction with the HTML and the DOM, as well as doing all kinds of animations, entering AJAX features in the project… JQuery enables developers to provide added value with a few lines of code. It is an open-source library under MIT and GNU v.2 license.
Some of its key features include:
– It enables modification of the DOM tree.
– Support for CSS3.
– Complete manipulation of CSS style sheets.
– Event creation.
– Development of complex animations.
– It supports extensions.
– Compatible with all browsers.
Backbone.js is a JavaScript library that enables client-side programming. It is used for single-page application development, where the use of JavaScript and AJAX is essential for providing user functionality to the apps. It uses a Model-View-Controller pattern.
Its main features are:
– It facilitates data-intensive work. Event creation.
– Link to the server-side technology: PHP, Node.js…
– Use of API for adding features.
– Simplified use of views.
Kendo UI is a library, or rather a package of libraries, that provides all the elements needed by developers to create client-side web applications, with a dynamic user interface based on JQuery. In the end, Kendo UI is usually used for developing an intuitive, simple and innovative user interface through different types of widgets that are assembled like a Meccano. These predefined elements include dynamic menus, extras, file upload systems…
Features:
– It works with most browsers and operating systems.
– It enables data visualization.
– Data-binding.
Modernizr is a JavaScript library that enables a project's incompatibility with each type of browser to be detected. The idea is to create developments tailored to the features of each browser.
The user can use certain features or make adjustments based on what each user uses. These tests are conducted via a test system.
Its API also enables loading of customized tests by project.
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